Reasons to appreciate a son!!

Top Ten Reasons to appreciate a son named, Christian.

1. The awesome things Christian says out of the blue. 

This year Christian told me, while driving, "I don't know many Christian's out in the wild. The only Christians I know go to church." 

Another great quote was, "Did you know courage and confidence means nothing will ever be 100 percent perfect, but you will be fine either way." 

Most of Christian's friends are called, "wewlads," I am not sure what it means exactly, however they seem to. Christian came up with the term and everyone agreed. Most often they say, "What up wewlads?" Also, he started an L.L.C. company (described below) called, "Wewlad." At times some friends become sadlads and coolads mostly just wewlads and it really is quite fun to always know what to call his friends, mostly wewlads, if I have forgotten any of their names. 

             

As an English major it was fun to hear from Christian, "Mom, just stop diluting the sentences, you always state things overly. Can't you be more direct when you explain things?" He also told me I am an aristocrat princess, not a wewlad, and that I am very pretty." So he kind of made up for it, overall. Sidenote: I do actually overstate things and talk/write a lot. Thanks for the tips, Christian B., you always say awesome things!!:)  

2. Christian's deep love of learning. 

This year was a hard year for Christian, however I know that he learned also some of his limits on how much to take on in life. He learned a lot about prioritizing and a ton about how much he can balance on his plate. What I am proud of is that he tried and continues to try and push himself forward in life! This last year he took an online class through Harvard University. He is still working on his final project (which they give you a year to complete), however it was super impressive to see that he did this all on his own just because he wanted to learn.

He also took three AP Classes at school, had his first job at Target, took ROTC,

played in the marching band, jazz band and orchestra (second seat). Check out his marching band on video (click here). 

Aside from just these few bands he participated in he also formed his own band on the side with a few friends. They played in local church parking lots until winter. Check out the squire (click here). He has always pushed himself to the point of excelling beyond anything I thought possible. He also has learned that he simply can't do everything, that he has his own human limitations and that stress can be very hard to manage when doing so much. This is waht he has mainly focused on this year, however he has done an excellent job at achieving greatness and also balancing life. As all teenagers, he has also made some interesting teenager decisions that have had consequences, however Christian and I both learned that what made the difference was all of these associations with friends and wonderful families that "do wholesome activities," have always kept him realigning himself to go in the right direction.

 I am so grateful for all of his friends he has made in these activities. During a hard year, they have only proved to have loved him with genuine love and  support and I know he has been there for them as well. More than what Christian has accomplished, I have seen that Christian has learned his limitations and also that doing good things produces good things in his life. Out of all of these associations and endeavors he has only proven to have some of the very BEST FRIENDS a kid could ever ask for. 

3. Christian's first dance and first date!! 

This year Christian had so much fun going to Homecoming and some LDS dances with his friends. It was fun to see him go on his first date at 16. I wanted to chaperone, however he wasn't very interested. Thankfully I did not put him through that kind of torture!! He has grown up so much and his friend "M" continues to tell him (as she has since the day they met) that they will be married someday (this was not the date). I cannot blame any of these girls, my son is so handsome, cute and sweet. Go Christian!! Haha.:) 

4. Christian is also a pterodactyl. 

Christian is our resident pterodactyl. If you haven't met a real life pterodactyl, ours is not really an outward reference as much as an inward screech that inhibits the sound of a pterodactyl. He also calls himself one. In outward, less pterodactyl mannerisms, he crawls on all fours like a bear, chases little girls around to tickle them and looks more like a human named Christian. We love having him, it's something of a rarity to have both a wonderful son and a pterodactyl withing your midst. I couldn't be more happy as a mother.  

5. Christian's L.L.C. called WEWLAD. 

Christian and his best friend Connor decided to do some research this year into starting their own computer consulting firm. They spent time explaining in detail to myself and his friend's parents the whole business plan. He even asked for a nice business suit to be able to go soliting. Conner's parents gave him a list of contacts of local businesses in need of services. They even contacted a local community small business outreach program and had lunch with the facilitator to discuss their business goals. So far they have made money enough to pay for half of Christian's car and put some money into a money market acct. I am so proud of these kids!! They are amazingly smart. Conner is the business background associate and Christian is primarily focused on the technology. Overall they are excellent business partners. Check out WEWLAD L.L.C. for your computer and business needs. 

(the proud business owners)

6. Small Town Happy Times

For the most part we are a smaller town hinged to a great big metropolis basically called the twin cities. Like I have learned from most Minnesotan's your own small suburb has enough to keep you busy. Here life is more about family and close associations than going into the big cities and finding entertainment. Afterall, we do have a lake on every corner, in the summer we go to the beach, in the winter it's ice skate and hockey. This is life in the MN suburbs, at least from what we have been able to tell since we have moved here. For that reason, Target, is actually a cool place to hang out. Instead of going to the mall Christian and I have fun loitering in and out of aisles. As you can see Christian always makes living in a small town, happy times. 

What's even better? He works at one of the coolest places ever in our community, Target. Wow!! These are the joys of small town happy times!! :) 

7. Guitar lessons with Christian... 

This year my two talented (musically) children, Christian and Isabelle, decided to start their own band. They convinced me to purchase them each a guitar amp and a base guitar for Isabelle to go along with Christian's lead electric guitar. Christian even allowed me to participate in one of the lessons (he was the lead lesson teacher) with my acustic guitar. We learned ACDC together. Here is Christian playing on his own: 

(Abigail also decided to talk me into a guitar as well)

                                             

Chrsitian composes music!!! It's rad. Isabelle plays back up.

Isabelle's back up is also air guitar! I love that my son and daughter play music together, it's awesome!!

8. Dungeons and Dragon's night.

For the last two years Christian and his buddies host Dungeons and Dragons night. Each week someone takes a turn. Christian is always the narrator, which is interesting to me, since no one else would like to be the narrator apparently. Regardless, these boys are awesome and I love having them over about once a month for games. They only require a few six packs of Mountain Dew, pizza and candy, for the rest of the night, I never hear a thing.

9. Being a boy!! Christian's best friend Ben and their many paintball excursions in Wisconsin.  

10. Appreciating Christian is easy just because.

As he once said in the past, "It takes courage to keep going even when things are not perfect," this year has definitely been one of those times, however I have only seen that he keeps going!! He has had some ups and downs, however having all of his friends, talents and support have kept him going and striving to achieve greater things in the future. I am so thankful to have a son like Christian!!!:)