It has been a while.

So it has been a while since my last blog. Not much has happened in our family, just life. We had a fun Halloween. Jared was peter pan, Seth, Coy and Trevor were lost boys and Lydia was Tinkerbell. By way of information Seth will be baptized on December 5. I am still unsure of the time but will let you know when I do. I can hardly believe that he will be 8 yrs old. How time flies! Milton has been working in town lately. Which I love, it is great to have more time with him at home. In October our little Coy turned 6yrs old. He is such a joy to have in our family. We also now are the owners of a cute little Shar pei puppy named Sara, Lydia loves her. So here are some pictures of our Halloween. Hope you enjoy!!!

The kids carved their own pumpkins and we used them as decoration for our trunk- or- treat

Milton helped with the Halloween carnival.

Aunt Bri and Lydia

Coy

Sorry about the random child in the picture. I don't know who she is. Jared

Trevor

Seth

All the kids!

Sara and Lydia

Father and Sons Campout!

On Friday evening all my men folk went to a fathers and sons outing at Lewis and Clark State Park. Milton invited dad Crowther to join them. He was really happy that he got to fill both rolls as father and son. They had a good time. They even picked wild flowers for their mommy. I'm glad that they thought of me. This is the first year that I have not been left all alone. This year I got to spend time with my own little daughter. It was nice. We went and got dinner together I had mexican food she had chicken nuggets. About 9:00 I got really bored missing my boys so it was nice when they came home. I am glad they got to go. Thanks to Dad Crowther for taking the picture in my all day prep to get them gone I forgot to pack the camera.

100% Attendance

At the beginning of this year both Jared and Seth set a goal to have 100% attendance at school. I am so pleased with them and their determination. There were a few times during the course of the year where it really would have been convenient to skip the last hour or two of school for some trips we made or other kinds of things we were involved in but as a family we wanted to support them. They both accomplished this goal and had a fantastic year of learning and growth. Yesterday they got to be acknowledged in an assembly and received a certificate and a Walkman (I didn't even know they had them any more). They were rightfully excited by that. So now we are looking forward to a fun and exciting summer. I love having my kids at home with me and look forward to the freedom of not being on the schools schedule. Sadly enough it will all go to quickly and then I will eventually send three kids off to school in the up coming school year. They grow so quickly.

Funny Moments!!!

I had one of "those" moments last night. We were having some wild weather with thunder, lightening and wind. Anyone with kids knows that the weather can change a child's personality. Well Coy was all wound up and running all over the house whooping and hollering. As he was running is foot caught on the carpet and he smashed his little head into the wooded window seal. So I was hugging and kissing and inspecting my little boy and I told him if he started to feel funny at all to let me know. As we were face to face, him with tears streaming down his face he looked into my eyes and asked "Mommy, am I going to have brain damage now." I could hardly console him with a strait face. I love moments like this. When these sweet little children give us surprise we were not expecting.

More From My Last Post

On May 20 We had another birthday at our house.

Here is my sweet little Trevor on his 3rd birthday. He has brought so much joy into our home. I am so grateful for his quick smile and for him being so cuddly . I love to just sit and hold him. It does a mommy's heart good.Over memorial day weekend we went to the west side of the state. We stayed with Kelly my sister in Everett. She showed us a few of the sights. The one below is the Mulkelteo Light house ( I am sure I just murdered that word) We had a fun time there. I would of gotten in the picture but it was really tight up at the top and we had to hurry so we just hurried and snapped a picture.

It was really funny though, Jared was really scared to go up in the light house and really just looked silly going up and coming down the light house spiral staircase. When we were back down on the ground Jared walked over and asked Milton "Can we go up in the Space Needle Tomorrow" Milton explained that the Space Needle was much higher then the light house, So Jared let it go. The next day we spent a few hours in Seattle. We went on a fairy ride, walked the pier, saw Ballard Locks and stopped by the Seattle temple. We had a good time unfortunately our camera was not working well and didn't get good pictures.
This is at the Light house also
On last Thursday we went to Pasco to see the Lady Washington and the Hawaiian Chieftain. They are exact replicas of tall ships from 1700's. The Lady Washington was in Pirate of the Caribbean. It was a fun experience to go and see these beautiful ships.

ODDS AND ENDS

Well I guess it has been long enough since my last post. I have been reading the Twighlight series. This may be really unpopular to say but...WOW...what a waste of time. They are Ok till the last book and then it just gets way to weird. So if you have not read it and your contemplating doing so in the next little while, may I suggest an alternitive of pulling our your toe nails out one by one, scratching your nails on a chalk board or having a colonoscopy... I guarantee it would be time better spent than reading these rediculous books and even more entertaining. I was not really impressed.

Moving on...We recently had two birthdays. Lydia turned one. I can't beleave how quickly time flies. She has been a true blessing in our home. She has four adoring brothers who vow to keep her safe from just about everything. We also celebrated my sweet little boy Trevors birthday. I unfortunitly have not got the pictures off of the camera that Milton has at work so I will post a picture later. Trevor is the sweetest little boy. I am so grateful for this little 3 year old.

I will post later with some picturs of our Memorial Day weekend. We went to Everett to spend some time with my sister and to do some sight seeing. Blog to you soon

Cheeks

I personally believe that I have the most beautiful daughter in the world(but I can say that because I am her mom). She has the cutest cheeks. I mean all four of them. She is a chunky monkey and I love all her rolls. She may someday hate me for snapping this picture but it is so cute. I was changing her diaper when she rolled away from me and took off I couldn't fight the urge to capture this moment .

Naps

Lately Trevor has been trying to ditch the afternoon nap. It is not working so well for him. The other day I was working in the kitchen and I asked Coy to go and tell Trevor something for me. About 5 minutes later Coy comes back and says "I can't find Trevor I have looked all over for him." So I went into panic mode and am searching high and low for him, calling his name and there is no response. So I head outside searching for him at this point I am really about to panic when just then Coy comes out and tells me he found him. He was sound asleep behind a basket of unfolded laundry. (yes I have lots of those) I was so releaved.






This and the bottom picture are just some of the random places I find my boy.
























Seth cracks me up:

Yesterday I was out playing with the boys after school when a boyfriend and a girlfriend, middle school age, walked by. The boy was giving the girl a piggy back ride when all of a sudden the boy trips and they are both sprawled on the ground looking really embarrassed. I was trying to act like I hadn't noticed and not to laugh at them. Then I hear Seth say loudly. "Are they Retarded, Mom I think they really are retarded did you see them fall." It was funny!

Firsts

I got this off my cousins facebook (thanks Andrea) and seemed fun so here goes.

1. Who was your FIRST date? Shane

2. Do you still talk to your FIRST love? No, things got a little weird after he married

3. Who was your FIRST kiss? John

4. What was your FIRST job? Feeding Calves

5. What was your FIRST car? 1968 Ford Falcon

6. Who was the FIRST person to text you today? I don't have texting on my phone.

7. What is the FIRST thing you thought of this morning? What is that sound and do I care enough to get up and find out...No!

8. Who was your FIRST grade teacher? Mrs. Donaldson

9. Where did you go on your FIRST ride on an airplane? My dad was a Pilot, He took Kelly and I to Counsel Idaho to visit our grandparents.

10. Who was your FIRST best friend & do you still talk? Kelly,and all the time.

11. Where was your FIRST sleep over? With my cousins

12. Who was the FIRST person you talked to today? Milton, although I don't know what I said because it was 5:30 am.

13. Whose wedding were you in the FIRST time? My cousin Niki's

14. What was the FIRST thing you did this morning? Check the weather report.

15. What was the FIRST concert you ever went to? Highway 101 & Nitty Gritty Dirtband.

16. FIRST tattoo? my body is a temple

17. FIRST piercing? My ears

18. FIRST foreign country you've been to? Never Left America

19. FIRST movie you remember seeing? Bambi

20. When was your FIRST detention? Never had one

21. What was the FIRST state you lived in? Idaho

22. Who was your FIRST roommate? Milton

23. ONE wish? To have happy and healthy children

Make your need known!

INSTRUCTIONS: Type in your name and the word needs in quotes (in my case, "Christen needs”) into a search engine and see what comes up. List the first 10!

Christen needs extra assistance when navigating over curbs and cracks in the dark.

Christen needs Any ideal candidate whose area consists of Business Continuity, Risk Management, IT Security, Disaster Recovery

christen needs numbers for her new cell fone.

christen needs apple juice.

Christen needs a photo to post.

Christen needs additional hydration, but she will not longer receive nightly nutrition ...

Christen needs her posterboard

Christen needs a cyber wedding shower.

Christen needs some help keeping him under wraps.

Christen Needs to Know”



Kinda funny to see what comes up!

My Valentine

Today is not only Valentines day but it has also been 10 years since I meet my wonderful husband. Cupids arrow hit us on February 14, 1999, and here is the story. My brother Jason had a girl friend who was friends with Miltons sister Nadell. So I wanted to meet Jason's girl friend and he insisted that I had to go on a double date with him in order to meet her so I told him "I will not go stag on a double date" and he said " I'll find you a date. Nadell has a brother comming home from a mission in a few weeks we will set it up". So I agreed. The date was set for February 15 but I insisted that I go to his homecomming just to make sure he wasnt to weird and if he was I would have enough time to back out before the date. As I watched him give his talk I had a very strong impression that he would someday be my husband.He was impressive, and I had the pleasure of meeting him after sacrament meeting. And the rest is history.

So for this Valentines and anniversity Milton had 18 long stem red roses delivered to me. It made my day. He is a fantastic husband and I love him deeply.

Happy Valentines to all you love birds

The First Five

First Five

The first five...

The first people to leave a comment on this blog will receive something made by me.

However there are some limitations

1. I make no guarantee that you will like what I make. (just remember I have good taste :)

2. What I create will be just for you.

3. It will be done this year. (might take a while)

4. You have not clue what it is going to be, poetry, shoes, bags or a little invention of my own. I may bake something and mail it you . Who knows? Not you that's for sure!

5. I reserve the right to do something extremely strange. It may blow your mind!

Here the catch, if you choose to do this. You must post this on your blog and be ready to make something for five people too. This will be fun! When you receive the fabulous item I make you, you must post a picture of it on your blog.

Snow!!!

I know, I know, I know....3 new blogs in less then 24 hours but hey I have had some good blogging events. haha. So we woke up to snow this morning. You can only imagine the excitement of my 4 sweet boys when they realized the ground was covered in white. We have had quite a bit of snow this season but this was different. This snow packed wonderfully so we HAD to make a snowman. Unfortunately Jared and Seth had to be in school while we created our new friend. It was now or never because the snow will probably be gone before school is out. Coy and Trevor had fun making the snow man. I told them that they better kiss him goodbye because he wil not be here for long.

Team Crowther

So my boys were jealous that I blogged earlier about Lydia and not about them. So I took pictures of them in the shirts that grandma Crowther made them. This morning Jared and Seth insisted that since they were wearing there shirts to school today that their brothers and sister should also wear their shirts also. They always look so cute in them.

Floors

About 2 months ago I was visiting teaching an 82 yr old woman who asked " Is your little girl crawling yet" to which I replied "No not yet but she is getting really close." To which the woman said " well that is to bad, when she does start to crawl spank her butt, sit her back down and say NO!" I laugh just thinking about that because anyone who has ever had a child knows the craziness we endure during the crawling phase. Get the baby up in the morning. Scour the the floor with microscopic vision for anything on the floor, such as paper, strings, dirt, food, books, basically anything that could do harm to your sweet adorable child or anything that your sweet adorable child could do harm to. It is a crazy vicious cycle of picking up constantly, vacuuming 2 maybe 3 times a day sweeping at least 4 times a day and then mopping, all this and then the sound of Bump, Thud, WAAAAAA as you realize your little one tried to conquer the stairs and failed in their attempt. Then just when you get used to this routine you realize your sweet baby is pulling herself up onto anything she can find. This has been my life for the past few weeks but hey my floors are clean!!!
This is Lydia trying to crawl away from me and the camera. It was taken after church.



She stood up all by herself Just holding on to his fingers. She is pretty proud of herself so was her daddy!

I was tagged!

Go to your Picture Folder on your computer or wherever you store your pictures.

1. Pick the 6th Folder, then select the the 6th picture in that folder.

2. Post that picture on your blog and the story that goes along with the picture.

3. Tag 6 other people that you know or don’t know to do the same thing and leave a comment on their blog or an e-mail letting them know you chose them.

During the summer we went to visit mom and dad in Walla Walla and as we were driving home I was playing with Milton's new camera. Seth was out so I snapped the picture.


I tag... Tiffany, Andrea, Mary Claybrook, Jenna, Amy, Shai

Sardines

Tonight as I was sitting, after dinner taking a break and nursing Lydia I noticed that the house seemed quiet. More then usual. So I called out to my boys " Where are you guys and what are you doing?" I waited for a response which came in the form of Jared poking his head out of a 18"x 20" opening to a cabinet and saying "SHHH... We are playing Sardines". I saw this as a very humorous photo-op moment. So, at Lydia's great protest I put her down and went to spy. Seth was still looking for everyone when I got in on the fun!

They had a lot of fun. I had a lot of laughs!!!

Family Home Evening Fun!!!

Tonight for our Family Home Evening activity and treat we made a recipe for Chocolate Cake in a Mug. NaDell posted it a bit ago and we had to try it. It was so fun and easy!!! My boys thought it was so cool to make their own dessert. I highly recommend this for anyone with young kids, they will have a blast with it. Thanks NaDell for sharing your recipe.

5-MINUTE MUG CAKE RECIPE

4 TBSP flour
4 TBSP sugar
2 TBSP baking cocoa (dry powder)
1 egg
3 TBSP milk
3 TBSP oil
3 TBSP chocolate chips
a small splash of vanilla

Instructions:
No need to spray or grease mug.
Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well.
Add the egg and mix thoroughly
Pour in milk and oil, mix well.
Add chocolate chips and vanilla, mix again.
Put your mug in the microwave and cook for THREE minutes @ 1000 watts. The cake will rise over the top of the mug, don't be alarmed! Dump out on plate if desired after cooking (it will almost split in half, so you could share it with another person if you wanted). We sprinkled ours with powdered sugar.

Girl Hair

So the other day I was finally able to get Lydia's hair in to a rubber band. A very exciting day, I have been waiting a while.

Getting to Know You

Take how old you are (if you want to, if not, choose a number above 20) and name interesting facts about you that no one else knows (try to stay away from gross ones), so that others reading it can get to know you better.
Christen Ann Crowther, age 30

1) I am the new cub scout leader (wolf & bear) in my ward.
2) I like to sing in the shower.
3) I have actually hidden dirty dishes in my oven a few different times, when someone was coming over.
4) I've been engaged twice.
5) Now that I have figured it out I now enjoy blogging!
6) I HATE shopping.
7) I talk to my sister every day!
8) I love to cook...It is therapeutic for me.
9) I hate to fly, I would rather drive across for 6 days then to get there in a few hours.
10) Milton and I went to the same elementary school and his dad bought calves from my dad when we were young. We like to joke that we knew each other for much longer then the actual 2 months that we did before we married.
11) When I was in the second grade I did a show and tell when I showed my class mates that my stuffed bear could do tricks and I demonstrated by tossing and twirling it in the air. I thought I was so clever.
12) In elementary school I had a very large black woman as a teacher that I HATED. One day Kelly (my sister) was sick and didn't go to school and Mrs Donaldson asked why she wasn't at school. I told her it was because Kelly died of a nose bleed. It got around the school and eventually the teacher realized she looked really stupid for telling all the other teachers, Kelly was at school the next day and I had extra home work. I was a big Dork! haha
13) James Buchanan, Prez of U.S., is one of my ancestors. He was a bad man though.
14) Not only is Milton from a Crowther line but so am I. Don't worry we are not related:)
15) I LOVE having my kids home from school. I love being with them
16) If you put a movie on I will fall asleep, It drives Milton crazy
17) I have a very interesting mind and can ask very weird questions that I really want a answer to.
18) When I was 5 I was wearing manure boots walking around looking for my dad on the dairy and I went through a holding pen that needed scraped and I got suctioned in the manure and couldn't get out I stood there about 1/2 hr. and no one came. I had to step out of my boots and go home to clean up.
19) My favorite food is swiss steak w/massed potatoes.
20) When My youngest son was a baby I put a dress I really wanted to see on one of my babys on him. My track record for ever having a girl wasn't very good.
21) When I was pregnant with Lydia I hoped she was a boy because I think boys are sooo fun and I was used to them.
22) I love to can food.
23) I love making crafts.
24) I really miss having a relationship with my brother.
25) It has been many years since I have actually gotten all of my laundry done at one time
26) I can eat a lot of frosting!
27) I'm a Dr. Laura listener.
28) My new years resolution is to be debt free. I want to call Dave Ramsey!!!
29) My other new years resolution is to lose weight. I will succeed.
30) I love to scrap book but have no time to.

Tag to all who read.

I'm Very Thankful

This morning I woke up on the wrong side of the bed. After grumpily getting all my kids ready for school or to walk to school, Jared walked by me with a sly grin and said, "are you mad again mom"! Usually it is my kids that put things into perspective for me. I thought "I don't have anything to be grumpy about and I am extremely blessed, So stop being grumpy" So I wanted to remember the 6 people in my life that bring me such joy!

I am so grateful for a husband who leaves the warmth of our bed very early in the morning and goes out in the freezing cold to provide for our family. I'm grateful that he is an active patriarch in our home. I'm grateful for the fact that at Halloween even when ward members made comments like "Ether he is really crazy, really brave or he really loves his kids" Milton still wore the superman costume to the ward Halloween party just to see the smile and adoration of his children. That's a real true life Superman.



I am thankful for my 8yr old Jared. He has such a sweet personality. It takes alot to ruffle his feathers. He is so helpful to me. I am grateful for the example he sets for his family



I am grateful for my little 7 yr old Seth. He is also a big helper. I can always count on Seth to make me laugh. He loves to be a goof ball and he is good at it.

I'm grateful for my 5yr old Coy. I'm especially grateful for Coy's ability to get me to understand what he is saying using hand gestures when I can't understand his words.(a work in progress). I love how about 5 times a day he tells me I am his best friend or that he would really love to marry me someday. He is good at making his mom feel really loved.

Now there is my little 2yr old Trevor. I love that he loves to be cuddled. I love to just sit and read or sing or talk to him. I also love how he tries to dress himself and looks utterly ridiculous yet wonderfully adorable. He is a fun boy!

Then there is Lydia, 8 months and adorable. I'm grateful that she is a girl. She is soooo fun to dress. I love just watching her learn and develop. Babies, whether a boy or a girl, are such a blessing. I am thankful for my little baby girl.

I'm not grumpy any more. I love my sweet family.

Ok I need some help. How do I get the list of blog sites on to my blog page. Like NaDell has all her friends and family blogs. I am not computer savvy. Someone please help!

Supermoms

At the beginning of the new year our ward changed times to 9:00 am. Milton has meetings now that start at 6:30 up to the time church starts. So he is gone all morning. Now I would like to draw your minds to the wife left at home in her dear husbands absence and is the lucky woman who gets to wake, feed, bathe (if not done the night before) lay out clothes, dress, comb hair, inspect, drive and arrive at church (on time) with her children. Wow what a task. Any mom who has had this responsibility take your right hand put it over your left shoulder and pat yourself on the back. Talk about Supermom. Last week before leaving for church I took what I call a victory picture. My boys looked handsome, my daughter looked pretty and I was able to take this picture and still arrive at church with 10 minutes to spare. I was pleased. So even if you find yourself trying to sneak in to the chapel hoping there is a bench big enough for your clan, remember the Lord notices and blesses you for your great efforts. Even when your efforts go unnoticed by those around you.

So last night Milton and I were able to go out on a date!!! It was nice to just spend sometime with my sweetheart. NaDell and Andy were so kind to watch our little people while we went out. So to NaDell and Andy a big...THANK YOU! It was so nice of you.