December 31, 2011

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!

December 28, 2011

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..

December 25, 2011

Christmas!!!







 MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!
Love,
The Olsons

December 24, 2011

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

December 23, 2011

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

December 21, 2011

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

December 20, 2011

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

December 19, 2011

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 

December 18, 2011

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

December 16, 2011

25 weeks

December 15, 2011

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

December 14, 2011

hazel napping

makes me so happy
too bad she woke up when i put a blanket on her..

December 12, 2011

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

December 11, 2011

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

December 8, 2011

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!

December 7, 2011

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

December 6, 2011

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

December 4, 2011

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

December 1, 2011

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

November 30, 2011

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