hightlights of 2011

in no particular order we...

bought our first minivan

conceived our 4th baby

michael and i missed less than 5 days reading scriptures together

noah started kindergarten

we potty trained hazel

i ran a half marathon

we made it through two bike crashes
and a near death experience for hazel

and most recently i finished indexing my goal of 10,000 names
by the end of the year

just a couple of things we're looking forward to in 2012 are...
baby #4 and michael graduating
and hopefully less bike crashes, injuries and illnesses
i'm excited!

ta da

our new table

doesn't it look awesome?

that michael sure is amazing

 i was really excited that someone wants to buy our black

table and chairs today

until i realized we'll really need new chairs

and my in-laws will be here this afternoon

ha ha ha....(nervous laugh)

guess what we found at a dumpster...

 a new table!!!

sure it's a little scratched up

but it is so perfect

 we already have a nice table

but it's becoming way too small for our family

it sits four

and since olive recently decided she's one of us

she usually refuses her high chair

and races her siblings to their seats

not to mention we're almost a six person family

the extra awesome thing about it
is that it was free
and we're poor
and have not had luck trying to find a cheap table
that seats six
michael is super awesome
and has been working his magic on it
he sanded the scratches out

painted it white

and we're letting it dry

holla!

such a blessing

now to find 6 chairs..

Christmas!!!

 MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Love,

The Olsons

Christmas Eve

this is my favorite picture from today

olive doesn't normally sleep like a little babe 

with her bum in the air

it was taken right before we woke her up from a nap

to go see the movie Arthur Christmas

***

we are all ready for Christmas tomorrow

 i'm making cinnamon rolls for my first time right now

the kids are trying super hard to fall asleep but having a really hard time

because they're too excited

so cute!

we're happy to be home for Christmas

the minivan express

i saw this idea on pinterest

and then got motivated to do it by my friend erin!

the minivan express

is explained in detail here

but the basic idea of it is pretending your van is a train

and taking your kids on an evening train ride

to look at Christmas lights

while drinking hot chocolate and eating treats

michael read the kids a Christmas book

while i hid the tickets under their pillows,

and got the treats ready

then michael warmed the van and waited for us to come out

he was the conductor with a hole punch

ready to punch their tickets upon entrance

 the kids were so excited

 we brought their stuffed animals and blankets

 they loved driving around and looking at lights

 i could not believe how fast they drank their hot chocolate sippies

michael and i enjoyed ours, too

it was a fun night and it could easily become 

a Christmas tradition

waiting game

there is a lot of uncertainty in our lives right now

some more immediate than others

michael is sick again (or still, you choose)

more tests are being done

he's on an all liquid diet

i hope this doesn't last long

michael needs to apply for grad school

but he's not very motivated

and i'm not that motivated for him to, either

plus there are so many options

work full time/masters at night

full time masters/no work

masters here

masters anywhere else

so. many.options.

we are having our 4th baby in our 3 bedroom apartment

in 3 months

we have no idea where we'll put her

or her clothes

or anything that has to do with her at all

we're kind of at max capacity

and we know we'll be moving two months after she's born

but we have no idea where

so..

what's wrong with michael?

where will we put our baby?

what can i possibly do to get ready for her?

where are we going to live come may 2012?

is michael going to grad school?

where?

i guess it's just time to have faith

and rely on Heavenly Father

that he will provide a way

like he always does

Christmas jammies

i love our kiddies in Christmas pajamas

so much

that i don't even mind holding on to them for an entire year

since they're usually the previous year's clearance

christmas presents for the nephews

i made each boy a print for their wall

the oldest boys got "i hope they call me on a mission"

the second oldest got "choose the right"

and the youngest boys got "i am a child of God"

thanks to my mom for the wood from her barn

and to michael's dad for cutting the wood for us

 i sanded and stained them, then

i modpodged the printed pictures from this website

we got everything mailed out on saturday

so hopefully everyone gets their packages soon 

funny boy

today after michael helped noah get dressed for church, in an outfit i picked out, he looked in the mirror and said "i look ridiculous"

tonight while playing wii as a family noah told me "it's so lame" because he wasn't winning

25 weeks

ballet recital

hazel had her first ballet recital tonight

our little ballerina

 she did such a good job

 it was so fun to watch her

 i was so proud of her

she wasn't nervous at all

 hazel totally rocks the fake sleeping

(she's on the far left)

 after she performed

and we watched all the other dancers

hazel got to visit with santa

she told him how she wants dress up clothes

we had a fun night taking hazel to her recital

noah and olive went to evening care

so it was hazel's special night

but don't worry, we picked them up

before we went out for ice cream

ps: thank you miriam and garret for coming!
pss: ava we missed you!! hope you feel better soon

hazel napping

makes me so happy

too bad she woke up when i put a blanket on her..

ipod photos

olive at the library

 olive sitting on a toy shelf at the science center

 me with an oven mitt on, noah definitely took this

 noah also took this self portrait

 our bed

 the kids causing a ruckus in the living room

 olive wearing noah's thomas hat at winco

 the kids testing out a jeep powerwheel at costco last week

i love that they all fit together

i've had my ipod touch since last Christmas

i used it for tracking my runs

and i occasionally think to take pictures of the kids

but i rarely upload them

so these are random pictures from this last year

nativity

we went and saw the hundreds of nativities 

set up at a moscow church building last night

and dressed up as mary, joseph, 

an angel, a cow, and a sheep

 it's a little weird that they had michael stand

all alone

and of course i had to hold olive or she wouldn't participate

oh well, still fun

tubes

olive got tubes in her ears this morning

in spokane at 7:30am

which meant we all had to be in the car by 5:45am

i was so nervous about the drive

since olive couldn't eat after midnight last night

i thought she would cry for her bottle the whole way there

but luckily 

(more like huge blessing/ answer to my prayers)

she didn't make a peep the whole drive

she did not love the whole pre-op thing

or post-op much, either

(who knew she'd look so cute in a hospital gown and slippers?)

but by the time we left the ENT 

she was perfect the rest of the day

thank goodness

since we'd scheduled the kids' dentist appointments

for today, too

to avoid driving up twice in a week

the kids were so cute side by side

no cavities---yay!!

we also went out to lunch

and shopped a little
a very successful day!

24 weeks

i think it's true you get bigger with each pregnancy

gone are the days of regular clothes

maternity clothes or bust

i took my glucose test this week

i don't have gestational diabetes (never have)

but i am anemic (story of my life)

and of course, measuring big

we're excited for our little eleanor

my day

hazel and i peeled all the broken crayons

and melted them in a mini muffin tin

so the kids have new round crayons

rather than lots of itty bitty pieces

 we all went grocery shopping

michael went to the doctor

(he has a medication that seems to help, yay!)

then hazel got ready for ballet

in her recital costume

 her recital is next week

but they took pictures today so she got to be all dressed up

we're excited for her performance!!

 sickie took me on a date to teriyaki 

and shopping at the mall

it was so nice to be out with michael

can you tell he's lost like 15 pounds in less than two weeks?

poor boy

love him!

kid quotes

noah about olive: she's eating like a real human

hazel: i can't wear a coat because i'm like a princess and princesses in the movies don't wear coats

hazel to olive: don't touch the (christmas) tree. it's super pokey. i want you be safe.

noah: i'm home from school hazel
hazel: yay! best friends
noah: forever

noah: do you know kung fu?
hazel: yeah
noah: do you want me to teach you it?
hazel: yeah
noah: then i am your master

olive's very busy throwing every christmas ornament she can reach in the garbage

michael's sick

really sick

since the day we came home from

thanksgiving

a week and a half ago

he's been to the student wellness center

twice

and the ER

but no one is sure what's wrong

it's lasted too long to be a virus
(he is waiting on some test results)

he can't sleep at night

and his stomach just keeps cramping

poor michael

get better soon

life sucks when you're sick

company christmas party

we went to michael's company christmas party

the kids had lots of fun

they got their picture with santa

made ornaments

and really enjoyed dessert

looking forward

this picture makes me excited

to hold yet another sweet baby girl

to have longer hair
to weigh less

i love having babies

somehow i seem to enjoy

pregnancy more each time
but i am looking forward
to the next phase

i mustache post this picture

the night before we left for thanksgiving

michael decided to shave

because he was worried his family would think

he always has a beard

(which is kind of true)

so he was shaving

and got to the mustache

and i encouraged him to leave it on

until we got to his parent's house

since his dad has a mustache and always has

we thought it would be a funny joke

and it was

except his brother had a similar thought

and came with a goatee

which was really funny, too

i made michael shave before that day was over

because it was grossing me out to look at him

(love you, michael)

but it was hilarious nonetheless

and i'm glad someone got a picture

(thanks steve and janet)

so i could steal it off their blog and post it for all to see

christmas presents for our nieces

we have a lot of nieces

12 between the two of us

so i made some felt hair clips

as Christmas presents

two for each girl

 and i used old cereal and fruit snack boxes

to put them on

with the name of each girl stamped on top

 they were free (meaning i already had everything)

other than the stamps

(which i've been wanting anyway)

and fun to make

we don't really do gifts for everyone in my family

but every year i tend to

last year i did the dolls

and the year before capes

just because i want my nieces and nephews

to know that i love them

hopefully they like them

now on to the nephew presents....

those will be a little more work