2009

We are still here!!

The Olson's are all still here and doing very well. We have been enjoying the wonderful holiday season and lots of time togther, which means not too much time to myself for blogging.

We had a really great Christmas filled with family, food, gifts, laughs, memories and even tears. I really love this time of year and it seems like it just comes and goes so quickly. The New Year is quickly upon us and it always makes me reflect and think about the year that has past. I must say that our little family has been truly blessed this year. I can look back at all of the "little" things that happened and know that my Heavenly Father was there for us in so many ways. I am thankful for the friends and family that surround us and the wonderful examples you are to us. We are looking forward to another amazing year, come what may, and hope that you and yours will be blessed in the year to come.

I feel like there are SO many things and little events that I could blog about, but I don't have that much time, so look for future posts in the New Year that will show you how we spent our Christmas Season.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

LET IT SNOW! LET IT SNOW!

Remember this? This was the scene last year. Apparently, we are in for it again.

I hope I don't get a snowball thrown at me for this. My family and I LOVE the snow! Most excited of all - KEVIN!! He totally loves snow. Mr. Weatherman has been saying all week that we will get a good amount of snow on Friday and Saturday. I can't even tell you how excited Kevin and the kids are for the white stuff to fall and bury us all. Most people hate the snow. It makes a mess, causes accidents and it is so cold. I love how it looks. I love to grab a warm blanky, a cup of hot cocoa and a good book and watch it fall. I love the feeling it gives me at this time of year, but I don't LOVE it like Kevin and my kids do.

So if any of you see a crazy bunch of "kids" playing out side all weekend, if in fact we do get some snow, it's probably my family. They already have their snow gear and sleds out and ready to go. Feel free to start a snowball fight with them, I am SURE they would welcome it:) Have a great weekend!!

Scent-sational Last Minute Christmas Gifts

Are you done with your Christmas shopping yet? Most of you are, but I am NOT!! If there is anyone out there like me who is not done with their shopping yet and needs an idea, how about this one - SCENTSY!! Whether for yourself or someone else, Scentsy makes a great gift. If you or anyone you know would like some Scentsy products, I can take orders up until December 13 for guaranteed Christmas delivery. If it's not for Christmas then I can take your order whenever you like:)

Just in case you were wondering, the December scent of the month is Hearth & Home, spices of the season mixed with Sweet Bayberry, smells great!! The warmers of the month are Cyprus and Malta, they have a Mediterranean feel and look to them, they are BEAUTIFUL!! If you are curious, check out the link to my Scentsy page on the side-bar to the right.

Have a wonderful weekend and a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

*If you would like to set up a smelling session give me a call or leave me a message and I would be more than happy to arrange that for you as well.*

My Gift To You

In keeping with the giving spirit of the holiday season, my gift to you all is this one suggestion:

READ THIS BOOK!

I promise you, you won't be disappointed. It is the perfect book to read especially at this time of year. I bought this book almost three weeks ago in Spokane. Kevin got to it first and read it in about two days. Kevin is not a big reader and he REALLY loved this book. He kept asking me when I was going to start reading it. Last night I took Jacob to TKD and left the girls home with Kevin and took the book with me. I couldn't put it down after that. I started the book at 6:00 pm and had it all read by exactly midnight. I had a few interruptions through out the night that slowed me down but I am glad I stuck with it and read it all. I was sitting in my bed in tears at midnight. Kevin rolls over and looks at me and says, "You finished the book, didn't you."

When you do read the book I would love to know how you felt about it. Merry Christmas and happy reading

P.S. The book is based on the true, personal story of Glenn Beck. It just makes it that much better. Curious yet?

MONDAY

I have had a VERY. LONG. Day.

Jacob said he was sick, which he was at 4:00 am when he was puking out his lungs. He stays home from school, only to have more energy than a whole classroom full of children and was completely bored all day. Next time he is so going to school.

Kelsie is two. At home all day with a big brother who is bored. Enough said.

Kayla had her first major breakdown EVER this evening. I have never seen her behave this way. Major temper tantrum. I had to punish her by having her miss gymnastics tonight, which was a HUGE punishment to her. This made her even more upset. Not a good situation for Kevin to come home to after a long day at work for him. I feel awful about the whole thing. She got over it after about 30 minutes, but I am just feeling like the worst mom in the world.

Dinner was nothing amazing. I didn't get a lesson or anything prepared for tonight's FHE. What a day. I can't wait for tomorrow. I am hoping for more smiles and less crying, frowny faces in the Olson home on Tuesday. On the plus side, I remade my page layout. Pretty proud of myself!

GREEN looks good on Jacob

Friday night, Jacob had Tae-Kwon-Do testing. He was testing to advance from an Orange Belt to a Green Belt. He did such a good job. I was able to stay and watch him for a little while before I had to leave to go and watch TWILIGHT.

Needless to say, my little man did pass his testing and received his new belt. He is so proud of himself. It's a lot of hard work on his part and he absolutely loves it. There are nine belt colors: White, Gold, Orange, Green, Purple, Blue, Red, Brown and Black. Jacob's goal is to be a Blue belt by the end of the school year. That is quite a high goal to set for himself, but he is determined to get it done. Congratulations Jacob!! We are very proud of you!!

THURSDAY

We had a GREAT day in Spokane!!! All of the kids got an A+ from the dentist. No cavities, yay!!! Kelsie sat, with help from daddy, for her first "exam" and earned a prize. She was very happy!!

We went over to the Valley Mall and I was SO excited to go to Down East Basics. I got the new catalog in the mail the other day and had picked out a few things I wanted. PROBLEM - what I am lacking in height, I make up for in width which mean that the clothes does not look on me the way it does on the pretty models in the magazine. I was SO bummed. I look short, plump and boxy in the cute skirts, the skirts come down to my mid-calf and just nothing was working for me. I came home with a few wonder tees and some tees and cami's for Kayla. It works I guess. But I was able to buy a new book!! I was very excited to purchase "The Christmas Sweater" by Glenn Beck. I love that it is set in Washington. I have only read a few pages but can't wait to get into it. It should be a quick read.

To top off the day HSM on Ice was so AWESOME! Jacob and Kayla where so in shock when we told them where we were going. They were just giddy. Kayla had a permanent smile from ear to ear. She sang the entire time, actually we ALL did, including Kevin. It was a great show. I am so thankful that we had the opportunity to do that as a family. Next up: TKD Graduation and . . . ummm . . . oh what was that other thing? Oh yeah . . . TWILIGHT TONIGHT!!! Oh joy! I am so excited!!

End of the Week and Weekend Fun

I haven't been in the posting mood this week, but suddenly I have perked up and am giddy with excitment. This post will fill you in on what the Olson's are doing this end of week/weekend.

Tomorrow, my children will not be in school. In fact, we will not be in the Tri-Cities. We are not going far, but it is a trip we make every six months. Long story short, we choose to go to a children's dentist in Spokane that we absolutely LOVE! We have been making this trip since about 2005, I think. So every six months we make our way to Spokane for the dentist and then a fun family day. We always look forward to it. Tomorrow is no different. Jacob and Kayla have their cleanings and Kelsie also has her first visit with the dentist. Afterwards, we will be having lunch with some family and then doing a little bit of shopping. I am looking forward to visiting the Down East Basics store in the Valley Mall. I hope I can find something nice and inexpensive. We will hang out all day and visit with family in the evening before heading over to the Spokane Coliseum to watch Disney's High School Musical On Ice!! I am so excited!! The kids have no idea that we are going to go watch this show. I cannot wait until we pull up to the building and they realize what we are doing. It's going to be so fun:) This is our Thursday.

On Friday, I will be cleaning my house and doing odds and ends and running errands, nothing too exciting. Friday evening at about 5:30, we will be attending Jacob's Graduation Test night in Tae Kwon Do. He has the opportunity to become a Green Belt. He is SO excited. I will be posting about that next week with video, hopefully. A little later Friday night, oh say about sevenish, I will be anxiously waiting to watch TWILIGHT with the rest of the women in P-Town!! Sounds like a GREAT day to me!!

Saturday. I will be heading out of town at about noonish with my sister, Lisa, and my cousin, Cristina. We will be driving to Tacoma. Why you ask? WELL. . . at 8 pm, in the Tacoma Dome, we will be entertained by none other than the NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK!! Okay, let me have it. I know that you are all snickering and rolling your eyes right now, but we really are excited. I had the opportunity to see them three times in concert when I was fourteen and we thought it would be fun to do it again. I was a HUGE NKOTB geek as an early teenager. I was suppose to marry Jordan Knight. LOL!! Wow, I can't believe I just admitted that! We are meeting up with some more family at the concert. I really am looking forward to see what this concert will be like. No matter the outcome of the concert, a girls trip is always tons of fun!!

I am hoping that my husband and children will make it to church on Sunday without me here to keep them all in line. If the girls have funky hair on Sunday, please know that Kevin tries really hard to comb their hair. He does a good job, for a dad:)

We are in for a lot of fun starting tomorrow and I can't wait to get it started. Hopefully, I will have a lot to post about next week!! Have a great weekend!!

And the Winner is . . .

Thank you to all who entered my little giveaway and left comments. I had a great time reading what everyone had to say.

Like I said before, I am not very creative, so each of you received a number in the order that you left your comments. I put those numbers in a bowl and my lovely assistant, Kayla, drew a number from the bowl. The number she picked was . . . comment number . . . 8.

Kris, you are my winner!! Congratulations!!! I will be sending you a catalog and you can choose a Scentsy Room Spray in any fragrance you want!! You won't be disappointed!

This was so fun! Thanks again for playing my little game and have a great week:)

SCENT-sational Giveaway

I have been inspired by Alicia, Amy M, Jan and Kate and so many of you other great blog givers to do a giveaway of my own. The occasion for my giveaway is that my visitors counter hit over 4,000 over the weekend. I am sure that most of those is probably just me reloading my page all day, but since I haven't even been on the computer since Thursday, I guess that somebody is actually reading my little space in cyber world!!

Okay, okay, so back to the giveaway. I am not a crafty person AT ALL!! I can copy someone elses' idea really well, but I am not creative on my own. I don't have any great talents so I won't be making anything. I can cook and bake pretty good, but am not sure I am confident enough to cook or bake something for you. What I CAN do is offer you a GREAT product that I know most all of you have tried and most likely loved. Since I am the new Scentsy-girl, I am offering you one of these:

A Scentsy Room Spray in YOUR CHOICE of fragrance!! Not sure what fragrance you want? There are so many good ones!! How about the November Scent of the Month Cinnamon Cider. IT IS WONDERFUL!!!

All you have to do to enter my little giveaway is leave me a comment about something that you know about me. A memory or when we first met or your favorite post of mine. Maybe something that you know to be true about me, my likes or dislikes, ANYTHING!!

Anyone can enter, only one will win. Will it be you? The giveaway is open until Friday, November 14 at midnight. Not local to the Tri-Cities? No worries! I will gladly mail the winner their Scent-sational Room Spray should they happen to live anywhere other than here:)

So there you have it. My first blog give-away! I am so excited! Comment away, I can't wait to read what you have to say!!

FUNDRAISER

My little sister, Ashley, is on the Southridge High School Dance team. They are the Heatwave!! Heatwave has the opportunity to dance at the Pro-Bowl in Hawaii in February. To help them on their way they are selling pop. Here is the information:

• 20 oz. Pop Sale


• $16.00 per case ($.67 per bottle)


• Coke products including: Coca Cola Classic, Cherry Coke, Vault, Diet Coke, Caffeine Free Diet Coke, Diet Coke w/Lime, Fanta Orange, Sprite, Coke Zero, Pibb Xtra, Barq's Root Beer, Minute Maid Lemonade, Minute Maid Pink Lemonade, Nesteas, Fanta Strawberry, Vault Red Blitz and Vanilla Coke


• 12 oz Powerade in flavors Mountain Blast, Fruit Punch, Grape and Orange


• 20 oz Water available in Dasani, Raspberry Dasani, Lemon Dasani and Dasani Grape and 16.9 oz Talking Rain

The sale ends Friday, November 7. If you are interested in purchasing some, please leave me a comment or email me at olson8720@msn.com and let me know how many cases and what flavors. Checks made payable to SHS and delivered to me by Friday, November 7.

Thank you all so much and GO SUNS!!!! To see them in action, check out the video below under Friday Night Lights.

My Voice Will Be Heard

It's Our Right

The Bear, the Sorcerer and the Cheerleader?

No, this is not the title to some new really lame movie, these were my kids' costumes this year.

We have Jacob the sorcerer. He didn't want to be Harry Potter but he wanted to be some sort of a wizard and he wanted to be scary. This is what Jacob and Kevin came up with. The wand was really cool mainly because Kevin made it for him and it looks better than the ones you can buy in the store for like $15, and its wood not plastic.

We have Kayla the cheerleader, but not just any old cheerleader. She is a High School Musical Wildcat Cheerleader!! My mom MADE her this uniform and it turned out AWESOME don't you think. Kayla, needless to say, LOVED it and has worn it everyday. She even wore it to the movie that we finally took them to see on Saturday afternoon. She was a very happy girl.

And last but not least, we have Kelsie the Care bear. This was a HUGE accomplishment because she refused to put on any kind of costume earlier in the week. I could not bribe her into any costume at all. I think once she saw Jacob and Kayla dressing up and all of the kids coming to our door dressed up and getting candy, she was on board. Since Kayla had make-up on, of course Kelsie had to have some too. She WALKED with the kids and Kevin through our neighborhood and caught on very quickly. Kevin said she would worm her way to the front of the crowd in front of each new door and say "Tick o teet" and then "Tank oo". Isn't she adorable!!

My three little ghouls!!

Who are you?

Take the Quiz and Share Your Results!

Go to this site to find out who you are!!!

http://twilightersanonymous.com

Not Seeing Clearly

This is me being shallow.

Most of you by now know that our children recently were testing at school in hearing and vision. I didn't give it much thought at all. I knew it was going to be done. I had it done as a child in elementary school. Jacob has had it done every year since he started school. No big deal. It's not one of those things that you stress about or that keeps you awake at night, at least I didn't think so until yesterday.

I picked up my mail yesterday at about three o'clock and came home. Kevin happened to be here because we are slackers as parents this Halloween and we hadn't yet gone to the pumpkin patch. We decided to go yesterday when the kids got out of school. As we were waiting for them to get home, they now have earned the privilege of walking home together, I started opening our mail. I noticed a white envelope with the PSD logo on it addressed to The Parents of Kayla Olson. My mind started sifting through conversations that Kayla and I have had to see if I could figure out what was inside the envelope. I don't recall her telling me about getting into any trouble, that's just not Kayla. She doesn't have a lunch account, her library book was returned and she checked out another one, she's had all of her shots, she's not sick, hmmmm, what could it be. Then I open it and read, "Dear Parent: ... After failing a second screening, the school nurse recommends that your child have a professional eye examination." Amy's face goes blank. I'm thinking, "What?" Kevin asks what it says and I show him. He reads it, says, "Hmm" and puts the letter down. That's it. Why isn't he freaking out like I am in my mind. I must have had another look on my face. He says, "What, it's no big deal." Then I start in, she hasn't ever complained of headaches or not being able to see/read when we read books together. She never gave me any indications that something might be wrong with her eyes.

I tried not to make a big deal about it when she got home. I asked her if she could see the chalkboard or the overhead projector okay at school. She said yes. I asked her if her head ever hurt when she read books, she said no. So I am thinking, the nurse must be wrong, right? Jacob and Kayla started talking about the hearing and vision screenings that they had. They talked about the beeping they heard and having to raise their hands when they heard the sound. They talked about the vision test and Jacob said it was so easy and Kayla said it was hard at the very bottom, the letters were too small, hmmmmm.

I don't know. I am not saying that there is anything wrong with wearing glasses. As a matter of fact I like the way people look in glasses. My middle sister, Lisa, wears glasses and I think she looks so cute. My mom wears glasses and so does my mother-in-law. I have seen lots of little kids with glasses and I always think they look so cute in their little glasses. Isn't Ms. Palin setting some sort of new trend with her glasses? As a junior high kid I actually had my mom buy me the fake glasses with no prescription in them because I wanted to wear glasses. I'm a dork right. So why am I freaking out about this? I kept staring at Kayla for the rest of the night. She is so beautiful. Not that wearing glasses would make her less beautiful, I just don't want the glasses to get in the way of her beautiful eyes and amazing features. I just can't picture her in glasses. I don't even know if she needs glasses. I am just jumping to conclusions and freaking out with out even knowing for sure if anything is really wrong with her eyes.

So I will be making an appointment to see the eye doctor soon. Kayla has no idea that we got a letter home or anything. This is just me being shallow and not wanting to have to buy my daughter glasses. I guess she can wear contacts when she gets older, right!?

Jacob "Breaking it Down" Part 2

Did you see that video?!?! I can't even begin to tell you how fun and exciting it was to watch him do that. I was so scared and nervous at first, I didn't want him to get hurt. His instructors were absolutely awesome!! They were so good with the kids. I have to admit, I honestly didn't think he was going to actually break the boards. I thought he would attempt to but I really never thought he would actually do it. What a good mom I am, right.

When we signed him up for the class we had to decide how many boards we wanted to buy for him. All of the other parents were buying eight, so we bought eight. The instructor suggested twenty and I thought are you nuts!! No way. We, or rather Jacob, had never done anything like this before. Now looking back, I wish I had bought him more boards to break. Maybe next time. Yes, I said next time. Apparently Jacob really enjoyed the adrenaline rush that he got from this class and can't wait for the next one. He said that next time he wants to try to break scallops (cement). YIKES!! His instructor thinks he can do it. I think he can too!!

Since we got home he has been trying to break EVERYTHING!!!! He got to bring home his broken boards and has been trying to break them again. I was so proud of him. We had a blast watching our little man do such big man things. I think I even saw a tear out of the corner of Kevin's eye. He claims it was the saw dust, yeah right!

If you are considering putting your kids in martial arts, DO IT!! I am so glad Jacob asked us if he could give it a try. It has been such a confidence builder for him.

Good Job Jacob!

Jacob "Breaking it Down"

A New Venture

I feel like I have been in my own little world this week. I haven't been checknig my blog daily, I forgot to make some VT appointments (I will do it today, I promise Haley), I have been pretty good about keeping up with the house chores and my kids' activites, but I have been very distracted becuase I have had something else on my mind all week.

You see, I guess I felt that I wasn't busy enough already or something, I don't know, but I decided that it might be fun to try and run my own little "at home" business. Yes, I finally took the plunge and decided to sign up to be a Scentsy Consultant. Do you think I am nuts? I am actually VERY excited. I am doing it for sheer fun. I just really love the product and I love when I get invited to Heathers parties, so I thought why not, I really have nothing to lose. I can make some new friends and maybe a little extra holiday spending money. So I have had Scentsy on the brain all week. That being said, I'll take this opportunity to give myslef a little plug!!

Scentsy Open House

Saturday, October 25, 2008

1:00 - 4:00 pm

My House

I am doing a door prize drawing and also the first 10 guests receive a gift. There are a lot of really great fall and winter fragrances and new warmers as well. We even have a new over the counter plug-in warmer that is great for bathrooms or kitchen counters.

There you have it, my shameless plug for me new little business. Come by if you can. If you can't, call me if you would like to buy some product or schedule a party.

Have a SCENT-sational weekend!!(Yes, I did just go there!)

This Weeks To Do List

Ever noticed how one week will be really quiet with not much going on and then the next week is filled with lots of stuff to do. It's never evenly spread out, things just seem to all hit at once. I know there are a lot of you out there who handle a lot more on your plates that I do, but for me this week is pretty busy. I always tend to get all nervous and stressed out when I have multiple things going on in the week.

Besides the regular house chores and activities such as gymnastics, Tae Kwon Do, and FHE, Amy decided to throw in a small get together tonight. I also have Activity Days tomorrow and I feel so unprepared. I really want this to be a fun activity for the moms and daughters and I feel like I have nothing ready and like I don't know what I am doing. If I hadn't scheduled my little get together for tonight maybe I would have more time to prepare for Wednesdays activity. I also have to teach the lesson in RS this week. I LOVE teaching in the RS, I just hope I have the time that I need this week to really study and prepare for Sunday because it is such a great lesson. I am doing at least one VT appointment this week and hopefully get to the other two next week, maybe I won't be so crazy. It just happened to be that this week I have both Activity Days and my lesson and I just want to put 100% into both and I feel like maybe they won't be exactly what I want them to be.

This is just me venting. I feel like when I write things down or say them out loud I am able to move forward. I love being busy, though. I would rather be busy than have nothing to do and be completely bored. Like I said I know some of you have way busier weeks than I do, but for me this week, it feels like a lot.

OUR Friday Night Lights

The Olson Family typical Friday night at this time of year usually includes sitting down at Lampson Stadium watching the Southridge Suns play football. We have done it for YEARS! Why? you may ask. Neither of us attended school in the Tri-Cities and Southridge wasn't even built when we were high school age!! Yikes! The reason is that my sister, Lisa, graduated from there in 2002 and my youngest sister, Ashley, is a Senior there now. Besides my sisters going there, we know lots of families and youth who go there from when Kevin and I were in the Kennewick East Stake and attended the old 14th ward. It's fun to go and watch all of these kids who I use to be a primary teacher for and now they are taller than me (I know that's not hard) but they are so grown up. So anyway, that is why you can often catch our family at Southridge events.

This past Friday night took the cake of ALL games I have ever had the pleasure of attending. Why? Was it because the opponent was Pasco? It was a very good game. We have friends on both sides so that made it even more fun to watch. Both teams played so well and there were so many exciting moments. In the end it was a 10-7 Southridge victory, but that wasn't why it was so fun to watch. This was why is was so fun:

This is Kayla's first official performance on a field. She's the one with the pink gloves on. She was SO excited. The wonderful girl in front of her instructing the little girls is my sister, Ashley. It was so awesome to not only watch Kayla out there, but to see both Kayla and my little sister out there together. It was a proud moment for our little family.

This is video of the SHS Dance team, Heatwave, performing (See video up above. Coudn't get it to post here for some reason!). They are simply awesome. They also happen to be three time State Champs in dance and are trying for a fourth title this year. The SHS Dance team also has the AWESOME privilege of going to HAWAII to dance in the PRO BOWL in February. Isn't that awesome! I wish I could go with them!!

So there you have it. This was OUR Friday Night Under the Lights!!

Did you get yours?

Did you get your HSM Ice Tour tickets? We did!! Our kids are so excited! Well, they actually don't know yet, but I know they will be excited!! I am not sure if I should tell them or surprise them. I think I might just surprise them and tell them we are going on a day trip or something.

The tour will be in Spokane from November 19 - 23. I thought I would pass the info along because I know there are a lot of little (and big) HSM fans out there. I know they have other dates in Seattle, Wenatchee and Portland.

Hope to see you there!

While the BOYS are away the GIRLS will PLAY!!

It's officially a girls weekend!! My boys left early this morning to go on the Olson Boys' Hunting/Camping trip. I am not a huge fan of hunting or guns but Kevin grew up with it and I trust him completely to teach Jacob all the responsibilites and safety that go along with it. Jacob just got his first BB gun this week and is so excited to go try it out on the pop cans. I guess getting your first gun is a right of passage for some boys.

ANYWAY - while the boys are shooting up Bambi, the girls and I are going to have a great weekend full of make-overs and mani/pedi-cures, popcorn, watching High School Musical one and two in order to prepare for number three in theaters soon, we will be going to Barnes and Nobles to buy each of the girls a new book. They have both told me they want a spanish story book. We only have two spanish story books and they have them both memorized. Kayla says we need more so we will go and see what we can find.

All in all we are ALL in for a weekend of fun!! I hope you all have a fabulous weekend, too!!

2 Year Well-Check

This morning I had the "pleasure" of taking Kelsie to her two year well-check with her pediatrician. I am usually really on top of getting appointments scheduled, but it seems that with the third child it didn't seem that important to take her to the doctor seeing as how she is not sick. So I scheduled the appointment about a week ago knowing very well that she would probably be getting a few shots. This is where I will start to rant and rave. I feel as though I am a very responsible parent. I take my kids to all their check-ups both medical and dental. Take them in when they are sick, which thankfully is not very often at all. Give the the proper medication following all the directions. BUT - I do have to say that I REALLY hate it when my kids get immunized. I myself am not a fan of needles at all. The only needle that I "enjoyed" was the epidural. I am a very big weenie. I hate it even more when I willingly drive my children to the doctors office knowing that they will be poked any where from 2 -5 times depending on how old they are and what they are due for. Then you have to hold them down while the "nice nurse" with the FREEZING cold hands (why are nurses' hands ALWAYS so cold?) sticks them in the thigh and your child is looking at you like "HELP ME MOMMY!!! YOU ARE LETTING HER HURT ME!!" Afterwards they look at you like, "I trusted you and you let her do that to me, why?" I always feel so bad. When Jacob was a baby I used to make Kevin take him in. I just couldn't do it. Then when Kayla came a long we split the duty. Now with Kelsie I have been the one to do it each time.

My other complaint is that I am positive that with each child they add like 50 (slight exaggeration) new immunizations. Seriously, is that necessary? So we need to be super human and immunized against everything? Isn't it okay to let a few bugs get in from time to time? I mean c'mon. I was literally lectured today about the second chicken pox vaccine that they have now and the new and improved booster/tetanus shot that all adults need to get. I had the chicken pox when I was like thirteen and I am fine. Yeah I was really itchy for like a week but so what. Isn't it kind of a right of passage to get the chicken pox? Of course I am not saying that I wish any of these illnesses or diseases upon my children but I just feel like "they" are trying to make you immunize our kids against everything. If you look at my immunization record it looks practically empty. I am sure my moms' has way less and I doubt that my grandparents EVER got shots and my grandfather is alive and well at 82. I know there are those who choose not to immunize at all. I guess I am just lazy and just conformed to what I am "suppose" to do and never really looked into any other options. Isn't there a lot of red tape and paperwork when it comes time for school and sports and stuff?

I'm just saying . . . I am all for keeping everyone healthy and I understand the importance of it all but really sometimes I just get so annoyed.

So back to this morning . . . so "nice nurse with cold hands" sticks Kelsie twice in the thigh while she is sitting in my lap and I am holding her down and, of course, Kelsie is just screaming. I mean really screaming. Kayla was with me because she has afternoon Kindergarten, but she didn't want to be in the room so the nurse let her step out and pick a toy from the treasure chest for Kelsie. After the shots were administered and they nurse opened the door, Kelsie still screaming, Kayla walks in the room and hugs Kelsie and hands her the Dora Etch-a-Scetch toy that she picked out for Kelsie. Kayla says, "Here Kelsie, I picked this out for you." Kelsie INSTANTLY stops crying. No joke. Stops, just like that. "Thank you Tayla, " says Kelsie and hugs her back. She picks out a sticker from the sticker box and walks out the door like nothing ever happened. WHAT?! I guess mom gets all worked up about nothing. Go figure.

So now I want to know, how do you feel about the whole vaccines issue? I want to hear all your comments whether you agree or disagree with my little tale. What do you think?

Lights, Camera . . . No Smiles

Don't you just love it when your kids are being all cute and funny. They get all wound up and are just acting silly. So then Mom says to herself, "Oh, I should get out the camera." You know what happens next? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!! The second I bring out the camera to take some pictures or video, they stop doing whatever cute thing it was that they were doing. Or they try to reenact or "plan out their scene". I want natural action shots you know. Why do they torment me so?

On the flip side, today, and most of the time, Kelsie is all cheesy and smiley. She has the most amazing smile. We got her all dressed up curls in place to get her picture done today for her second birthday. All morning long she was being all cute and smiley and saying "cheese" and laughing. We get to the picture place, still happy and playing and smiling. We go into the photo room, Ms. Photographer Lady grabs the camera and . . . Kelsie starts CRYING!!! What! Are you kidding me. Seriously. So frustrating. I never thought I would be the mother with "that kid" who wouldn't cooperate during pictures at the studio. I was able to bribe her into three, yes a total of three, good shots. She does look completely cute, but I know we could have gotten better.

I need to figure out a way to capture all that cuteness. Any ideas?

Memorable Moments

Today, after I dropped Kayla off at school, Kelsie and I headed to the Temple. Kevin's cousin, Josh, is leaving for his mission and some of Kevin's family went to the Temple with him this morning. I wasn't able to arrange for a sitter for Kelsie so I could attend the session, so instead we went over there and walked the grounds together for a while until the family came out from the session. This was Kelsie's first time to the Temple.

When we pulled in to the parking this was our conversation:

Kelsie: "We go church mommy?'

Me: "No, we are going to the Temple."

Kelsie:" "Temple mommy?"

Me: "Yes, the Temple."

Kelsie: "Oh."

As we are walking towards the Temple and up the steps and around the grounds:

Kelsie: "Ooo Temple pitty mommy."

Me: "Yes, it is very beautiful isn't it."

Kelsie: "Yes, bootifuu."

Kelsie: "Flawers pitty mommy."

Me: "Yes, they are pretty. Just like you."

Kelsie: "Same like me mommy?"

Me: "Just like you Kelsie."

Kelsie: "Water nice mommy, it's told(cold). I like water."

Kelsie: "Nice door mommy. Me go inside."

Me: "No, we can't go inside today, but someday we can."

Kelsie: "You go wif me mommy."

Me: "Yes, Kelsie, I will go inside the Temple with you."

Kelsie: "Tank you mommy."

Me: "I love you Kelsie."

Kelsie: "Me love you too mommy."

Exhausting Summer Fun

As our summer ends and the splendor of fall begins, I begin to look back and reflect on the AWESOME fun we had as a family this summer. While searching through HUNDREDS of photos, I noticed a pattern at the end of each little adventure we had. Take a look.

A four hour drive to Mount Vernon would wear out any almost 2 year old!

The zoo was so much fun!! Lots of walking!

The Mariners ROCK even if they had a losing season. They won when I was there!

No body move and nobody gets hurt-when we get there.

Amy, your kids wear me out! Thanks for bringing me on vacation with you guys!

I am so thankful for great memories of exhausting summer fun!!

Happy Belated Birthday to my Monkey Doo!!!

On Friday, September 12, this little monkey turned 2!!! I didn't forget, I was just out of town and did not have time to post. So in honor of my sweet little angel and her second birthday, here are some pictures.

This is Kelsie before her birthday party standing next to the Dora pinata that she picked out herself. She LOVES Dora right now!

This is her taking a crack at her pinata. She had so much fun! She was so excited to get all of that candy out of there!!

This is her wearing part of her pinata.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MONKEY DOO!!! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!

Happily Ever After and more to come

Do you know what today is? Yes, it is September 11. Yes, it has been 7 years since the tragic World Trade Center catastrophe. We should all remember this event and that it is Patriots Day. But . . . . It is also our 11 Year Anniversary. Yup, I said 11 years. I can't hardly believe it myself. Seriously, 11 years is a super long time. I can remember our wedding so clearly that it feels like just yesterday. Where has the time gone?

Well, lets see: three children, five cars, one apartment, one duplex, one home of our own, NO PETS, 4 trips to the ER, one trip to Disney World before the kids were born, 4 different Wards, an Olson Family bike trip in Montana with screaming babies, one Trip to Reno, three trips to Utah, one trip to Mexico - ELEVEN AMAZING YEARS.

I am so thankful to have the blessing of eternal companionship, especially with my best friend. No one knows me like Kevin. I am so grateful for the wonderful life that we have built together and for the knowledge that it doesn't end here.

Nothing explains how I feel better than our wedding song. Kevin's' twin brother and sister sang "Me and You" by Kenny Chesney at our wedding.

Ordinary No, Really don't think so, not a love this true
Common destiny, We were meant to be, Me and You

Like a perfect scene, from a movie screen, We're a dream come true
Suited perfectly, for eternity Me and You

Everyday, I need you even more, and the night time too
There's no way, I could ever let you go, even if I wanted to

Every day I live, Try my best to give, All I have to you
Thank the stars above, That we share this love, Me and You

Every day, I need you more and more, And the night time too
There's no way, I could ever let you go, Even if I wanted to

Ordinary no, Really don't think so, Just a precious few
Ever make it last, Get as lucky as, Me and You .

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY HONEY! I LOVE YOU!

Organize Everything

I have been thinking about this post a lot lately. I find that when I talk about something or "say" it out loud that I feel better and I can actually accomplish things. Back in November of last year, I officially became a full-time SAHM. I have been very happy about this change in our lives. I have had more time for my family and definitely more time for socializing with all of you wonderful women. I have been so thankful for that, you have no idea.

It's almost coming up on a full year with this new found freedom. We have made adjustments in schedules here and there and things are good, but I keep feeling like something is still missing. I finally came to the conclusion and realized that it's me. I need to get organized with EVERYTHING. I used to be an organized FREAK in my youth. I cleaned my room everyday, made my bed every morning. My dresser drawers were all properly neat and folded, my closet was organized, my school work was always done. That's just how it was. Remember, I grew up in Warden where there is nothing to do and no where to go, so I had A LOT of time on my hands. My mom kept our house CRAZY clean. You could take a white glove through our house and find not a speck of dust. She also worked outside the home very long hours, sometimes nights. She still always had the house perfect. She was always so tired.

When I got my first apartment, it was still the same nice neat tidy place of my own. After we got married, still very clean and tidy. Then came the kids. I can't believe how much CRAP you accumulate when you have kids. This is when things began to snowball I think. When Jacob was about a year old I went to work part-time and I did this until about a year ago. I was definitely not my mom. I had a hard time keeping up with the daily stuff like dishes and laundry that all of the extra deep cleaning always got put off. I learned to live in my house even if it wasn't perfectly clean. I learned to play with the kids instead of fold the laundry. Don't get me wrong, my house isn't like totally messy and unlivable, it's just not the way I would like it to be, completely clean and organized. I let all of the extra stuff go because I didn't feel like I had the time to do it all when I was working, now, I have no excuse. So I have been looking around the house and finding that I can throw out over half of the toys that are CLUTTERING all of the floor of both of the kids' bedrooms, I have bags of clothes that need to be given away or donated. We have been trying to paint and redecorate. I have always HATED the closet in my bedroom. It is so tiny. Someday, in my next house, I will have a HUGE, GRAND, master closet. Kayla and Kelsie are in one room and there is just no room. There's the catch. There COULD be room if it was clean and organized. Anytime I don't want something in the house or I want to get rid of something I just put it in the garage. Our garage is so scary right now. I feel bad for Kevin because he has no garage anymore. It has been taken over by nursery bassinets and car seats and old strollers and tubs and tubs of kids clothes and just CLUTTER. It has gotten way out of hand.

I also realized that if I had the house situated and organized the way I want it to be that I would have more time to organize the other things in my life, like scripture reading and exercising, and a better more efficient bed time and morning routine. The thing is that I KNOW all of this needs to be done. I NEED to get their rooms clean and organized and de-cluttered, I just get overwhelmed when I walk in the room. I'm like "Oh I'll just do it later." Um, it's been almost a year of me staying home and it's still not done, but I am determined that now that we are back to school and we are getting to some sort of normality after summer that I will be able to get all of this stuff done.

There I said it out loud so maybe now it'll get done. It might help if I wasn't blogging, huh.

If you have any ideas or suggestions for me on where to start or how to start or what works for you, I would love to hear it!

Joining THE Pack

Along with all of the many wonderful things that have happened to my little Jacob this past month, this has got to be one of his favorites.

It's official. Meet the newest member of Pack 149. How CUTE is he?!?! I didn't have so much fun ironing on all of the patches but after seeing him all dressed up it was SO worth it. Kayla couldn't resist getting in on the pictures. She is such a ham sometimes (I have no idea where she gets it from).

Kevin Richard has lots of fond memories of scouting. Kevin remembers most that his Grandpa Richard Cox was the Scout Master. He really loved scouting with his Grandpa. I hope that Jacob Richard will do his Great-Grandpa proud.

We are really looking forward to helping Jacob achieve all of his different rankings. I don't really know anything about the program so this will be a learning experience for me. He is growing up way too fast, I hope I can keep up with him.

Wii-lcome to the 21st Century

We finally got a wireless Internet router, can you believe it! Kevin and Jacob are SOOOO excited because this means hooking up the Wii to all of our friends. So if you know your Wii number and would like to share it, we would LOVE to challenge you all to some Mario Cart!!

Back to school!!

I feel like I have been ready for a while now for school to start. I'll miss all of our summer activities and the lack of a schedule, but I won't miss all of the fighting and bickering and whining that has been in my house for about the past month. They needed to be back in school so they could miss each other a little bit and not fight so much I think.

Monday night for our FHE, Kevin took each child one at a time, including Kelsie, and gave them a back to school "interview". Each one lasted about 10-15 minutes. It was really quiet during Jacob's and Kayla's interviews and then there was lots of singing when it was Kelsie's turn. Way cute!! They each loved the one on one time that they had with their dad. They each received a blessing and that ended our night. It was very special.



On Tuesday night we got them in bed by 8:30, well Jacob and Kayla anyway, Kelsie is a night owl!! They each got one on one time with Kevin and I separately just to talk or say a prayer or read a book or two before bed. During my time with each one of them I started to get very emotional. Jake was reading me a Junie B. First Grader book and I just realized how grown up he is. We were reading a first day of school book with Kayla and it just HIT me HARD, that she was starting Kindergarten. I held it together.



We got up this morning and got ready had breakfast, all very smooth. Got Jacob to school and into his classroom. I snapped a few pictures and I just couldn't leave. He kept looking at me like, "Okay Mom, you can go now." I remembered that they were serving doughnuts and orange juice out front (THANK YOU PTO) so I turned around and headed out. I held it together though. I got home and got Kayla in the bath tub, we picked out her first day of school outfit, combed her hair, and waited. I was in no hurry but Kayla was so impatient. She has afternoon kindergarten. Finally, the time came and we went back up to the school knowing very well she would only be there for one hour and ten minutes because of Wednesday early release. We got her into class and I curiously watched her as she interacted with her new school friends and teacher. About ten minutes later Senora Hannan says, "Adios" and waves at the parents who were still lingering in the classroom. So I grabbed Kelsie by the hand, waved good bye to Kayla and left. I SO did not hold it together. I sulked to my car and drove the two blocks home and called my Mom in tears telling her I had just dropped Kayla off at her first day (or hour) of kindergarten. Am I a wimp or what? Kelsie asked where Kayla was the entire hour she was gone. This didn't help. It was finally time to go pick them up and I was feeling fine. Let's hope we don't have a repeat of this tomorrow when she is in school for 3 hours!



Not that I was less emotional about Jacob, but he is in second grade now. I was waaay emotional when he started kindergarten. I am very excited for both of my kids to start a new school year and to see what fun things Kelsie and I will do together when we are alone.