poor sick hazie

poor hazel started vomiting a few hours ago
and she hasn't really stopped
she's in her 4th bath of the evening
and we've done a million loads of laundry
i guess it's good i didn't stress more over
coordinating halloween costumes
since hazel, olive and i are all home
instead of at the ward party
oh well, there's always next year

let the festivities begin

since halloween is on sunday

i think it's going to be a whole 

weekend of festivities

starting this morning

 super...girl striking a pose

 noah as slinky the clown

olive as a pumpkin

and hazel as super girl

 walking in a parade at playgroup

noah decorating a cookie

weird or normal?

that it felt like Christmas morning walking through our brand new super walmart today?

who would've thought we'd all be so excited for walmart

i wonder how much happier everyone would be for a target..

here's another weird or normal..
the sandwich i had for lunch today was an ice cream sandwich?

normal, right?

sunday nap

Sunday afternoon flew by without Hazel getting a nap. We decided we'd just skip it since it was getting too late to put her down. She needs those naps. She put herself down for a nap on the laptop and slept for an hour or two.  She was half way dressed up as a butterfly. So cute!

An update and maybe a new resolve.

We went all yesterday with no TV for the first time in a long time. It was wonderful. Noah and Hazel were so much happier. Hazel did cry for a good half hour over the missing TV but then she enjoyed more attention from me and we played together a lot. Noah and Hazel helped me make mini cupcakes for Halloween. They played together all day and fought way less than normal. Michael noticed Noah was happier than ever when he got home from school. I knew there would be growing pains and that it would hurt but it's good. Mostly it was really positive.

Quitting the blog hurts. I love the blog but I know it's not what's most important in life. I love my family and I want to focus on these little children right now while they are young. That said, I turned our blog into a book last night and ordered a copy of it. It made me so sad to think of not doing this anymore. I've already made like 3 new blog posts today not knowing if I was going to keep the blog running or not. I know I'll lose contact with most of you and it's so nice for family to be able to see our kids. 

The main problem with the blog wasn't really with this blog. It was that I was spending way too much time online. Not only do I blog pretty regularly, I was reading nearly 100 blogs regularly as well. As most of you know, if you read design blogs it just makes you want more more more and I don't want to live that way. And most of what I was reading just doesn't matter. I want to be content and happy in my home, with my body, my wardrobe and my life. I want to have time to read my scriptures feel the spirit. I want to be present for my children, not spaced out online. 

Anyway, if you haven't noticed by now, I'm impulsive and Michael and I are both indecisive. For now I think I'll blog openly but I won't be reading other people's blogs. You're welcome to read or not. I want to blog to remember the fun that my family has and I want to do that while my kids are asleep. I don't want to take time away from them anymore.

LOVE,

Rachael

PS: I do have a project blog that my friend Heather and I have been posting on casually. I'll probably be putting my occasional projects on there and leaving this for my family/journaling space. 

now presenting: noah as dinosaur cowboy!

the ensemble includes pajama bottoms, shin guards, a hat from sweden, and his 4th birthday t-shirt

 the job includes wrangling dinosaurs with a lasso 

 this is what his trusty side kick hazel does

(gets the bathroom mirror dirty and gets mad when caught)

not sure how it helps the cowboy but it's part of it

 mode of transportation: running alongside thomas the train

 the official pose 

of

the dinosaur cowboy

sunday best

Michael took the kids for a pre-church wagon ride. Hazel is wearing the dress I made her. We just got this wagon and the kids are enjoying pulling their toys and clothes and each other around the house.

Firestation playgroup

We went to playgroup at the fire station Friday. The kids had a lot of fun. Everyone showed up. I'll admit I don't normally go to playgroup myself but...a firestation? Come on! How could we skip it?

To our Friends and Family,

I had a few spiritual revelations yesterday. I will spare you the details. The outcome includes us putting our TVs away or selling them, even just for a year or so. Although I'm hoping we enjoy living without so much that we don't ever want one again. We're all a little too dependent on it for entertainment. I'm also going to stop blogging. I feel like it will better serve myself and my family if I journal privately instead. Michael and I have not been at the top of our spiritual game for quite some time and we know that it's not going to get easier the older we get, the more kids we have, the further he is in school, etc. so we are starting now. Today. We made a list of goals for our family last night and hope to improve our relationships with each other and the Lord with these changes. We love all of you and hope to stay in close contact without the blog. My e-mail address is slurfeefrenchie@gmail.com if  you'd like to write.

I will probably put the blog to private with no readers in the next couple days until I print it all out and then I will delete it. Thanks for all of your support.

Love,

My Olson Family

an apron making frenzy

so a couple weeks ago

on prudent baby

they gave a tutorial to make aprons

out of fat quarters

and they're really simple but super cute and fun

so i made one that day

and then some the next day

and on and on

i think i've made nearly 15 of them

sorry to ruin the surprise to those of you 

who might receive one for Christmas

here are a couple i've made

don't mind that they need to be ironed

so anyway

noah and michael both

get a little jealous when i sew

and wondered where their aprons where

 so here they are

of course hazel couldn't be left out

i'm a big sister

i took the kids to the library a week or two ago

and noah and hazel were looking for books

hazel found a book all by herself

called

i'm a big sister

it's so appropriate for her

being a big sister, now

and she fell in love with it

when it was time to return it

i hid it in my purse

and i tried to be sneaky

but at the library i forgot not to show hazel

and she saw me drop HER book in the box

she screamed and cried

she was heartbroken

we went to walmart and tried to find a copy to buy

but...of course they didn't have it there

so we ordered it off amazon and it came today

she kept saying "my book, my book!"

she is so happy

a freehand dress for olive

i'm loving being able to sew again

within the last day 

i've sewn hazel and olive each a new dress

hazel hates hers (of course) because it's fall colored

not ultra girly

so she tried it on but only because i bribed her

with coloring after

so the next thing i sewed was this dress for olive

who appreciates (doesn't protest) what i make

i didn't use any sort of measurement 

not even a piece of her clothing to compare

but it fits her perfectly

hooray!

spooky gingerbread house

heather and brooks were awesome

and invited us over for halloween gingerbread houses

after the kids were in bed

it was so much fun!

 noah was so excited when he saw it the next day

but then got some crazy eyes when i said he could eat it

 here they are working away at it

 and this is what olive did

funny thing about it...michael joked that it looked like a temple
and then the next day
noah said "hey dad, mom's letting me eat the spooky temple"

michael is amazing because

1.he found an owners manual for my 1970s bernina online which helped me fix it
then shortly after, my pedal started acting up
2. he fixed that too
3. he went in to get us a pizza and took both kids
then came back out to wait for it and said noah wanted him to sit on my lap
so he did
and then confessed it wasn't noah's idea
it was his
while he was sitting on me
4. i was cleaning up after dinner
and he was holding both kids
dancing and singing at the top of his lungs
they loved it
and i thought it was super cute
5. ok, he's amazing for lots of reasons
but those are a few from yesterday

olive's new trick

she rolls!

she'd done it a few times in her crib

but this week i finally saw her do it on the floor

and today we caught it on camera

she's a lot earlier than her siblings were

but i've always known she's a strong girl

Dear Little Bernina,

First off, I love you. You've been my loyal sewing machine since I was sewing my own barbie clothes. I love that you are simple and always get the job done. The trouble is, you're choosing a poor time to act up. A few years ago I had time to wait until I saw my mom again to get our troubles worked out. But now! I have kids to sew Halloween costumes and bags for. I have started on my Christmas gift making and you're halting my progress. This is quite stifling. I won't see my Mom again until Thanksgiving (weather permitting) and that just won't do. I'd love to stitch things up between us but if that can't happen soon...... I'll be forced to replace you.

Desperate to sew again,

Rachael

a day trip

we took a little tripsy to spokane

did a little shopping

ate lunch
noah found a bear in the food court 

 we played at a park

with a giant red wagon slide

 fed some ducks

 took a "train" ride

more like a glorified tractor ride

 oh and a carousel ride..not pictured

and a little trip to target

as well as some diaper changes

and stops to breastfeed

it was a pretty great day

olive's first trip to the pool

friday night we took olive to the pool for the first time

it was a lot of fun

but it totally wiped her out

she tried to fall asleep in her swimsuit as soon as we got out

what the what?

has it seriously been two years since i started this blog?

wow

i'm glad i did

it's been fun to record our happenings

and projects

plus a good motivator to take pictures

this is my 487th post

sheesh louish

i hope you've enjoyed it

as much as i have

it's so fun to look back at our memories

and see what little ones noah and hazel were

so what if i don't scrapbook anymore?

it's all right here

where it belongs

i heart blogging

our three month old girl

this is a picture of olive enjoying general conference

olive turned three months old on sunday

i can't imagine life without her

she loves her siblings already

she smiles whenever they are near

and tolerates when they bother her

olive loves to suck on her hands

she is usually a great sleeper

although she has a cold right now

she smiles a lot

but hasn't laughed yet

her temperament reminds me of hazel

everyone thinks she looks like noah

but can usually see hazel in her, too

and no one can even look at her

without commenting on and touching her hair

the adjustment to three kids is going well

but i don't have the hang of it 100% yet

we spend a lot of time at home for now

i prefer it that way, anyway

i love my little family

and grateful to be a mama

it was a big day..

for michael's beard

 he went from gruff mountain man

 to eerily similar to my dad

 to looking like his own dad

and then all the way off

to show that baby face of his