this is my 1000th post

that's a lot of blogging

am i right?

or am i right?

sweater: banana republic (thrifted), shirt (husband's) and jeans: gap, shoes (kids section) and belt: target, earrings: vintage

thanks so much for reading this little blog of mine

it's a fun outlet for me and i appreciate your comments and support!!

hazel's very first school picture

hazel goes to a really nice preschool

that we love (other than the driving to and from)

she is learning all the sounds the letters make

she can write her name really well

and loves all the songs they sing

i just love this picture!!

it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

i'm normally the decorate the day after thanksgiving type

but this was my first year hosting thanksgiving

which, turns out, is a bit of work

so i'm a little behind schedule

oh well

here's our tree!!!

it smells so good and it's really tall and pretty

we really like it

(i swear eleanor likes to sun herself. she always finds it)

i made a little gallery wall 

rather than finding a place for each of these

and since we don't have a mantle...i bought hooks

kind of lame but oh well

i might cover them with ribbon bows or something

 here's the other side of the room

with the magnolia garland and noel letters

 i love the magnolia garland that we inherited from my sister

when she moved to boston and didn't have room for it

 i am planning on making more of these little cone trees

but for now i like them hanging out on the end table

here's the tree all lit up at night

 and the house! i'm so excited that we have a house to put Christmas lights on!!

it's my first time ever

my dad never once put them up and we've always been in an apartment until now

sadly we don't have a ladder so the top didn't get done..

that'll probably have to wait until we own a house

but it worked well enough for michael to use the garbage can 

and a chair/stool combo for this year :) 

 noah requested a picture in front of the tree

(don't mind his wet shirt, he'd just brushed his teeth)

 hazel's always up for posing, too 

insta-olsons

 hazel licking the frost off the trampoline, we need a ladder

eleanor's two teeth, hazel holding olive

noah's new "pokemon" haircut, decorating the tree

hazel calls these my tap shoes, olive prefers hazel's bed

i'm becoming a closet runner

since i was a teenager i've run off and on

i never really liked it until 

a year and a half ago or so

when i started doing longer distances

but i like running for weight loss either way

i don't mind running outside

but i don't really want to haul three kids with me

or wait until night when it's dark

so a treadmill seems like the best option

my sweet parents were kind enough to not only bring us a trampoline

but a treadmill, too

 i've lost a bit of weight since having eleanor 

but i'd like to lose more

and fit my clothes better

oh, and hopefully do something about this stretched out stomach

that seems beyond repair after 4 kids

ok, it wasn't 4 kids that did it

it was eleanor being HUGE and late that did it

but either way
i look pregnant and i'm not

i'd like it gone, please

 and since i can't stand staring at a piece of exercise equipment all day

we turned the kids toy closet

into my treadmill closet

which is actually just the under the stairs closet

for now i'm just going to ease back in to running

and hopefully be pretty consistent

and in a few months i'll work on distances

on the treadmill and outside

and do another half marathon this next spring or summer

it has been a little bit of a rough road since having eleanor

four kids, plus a husband in school, moving a few states away, 

eleanor's milk allergy, and olive being crazy

so i haven't worried about losing weight much yet

but i'm ready

new glasses

remember the cheap glasses i bought for noah

off amazon for a few dollars?

well...they broke (of course)

but good news! 

firmoo.com e-mailed to ask me if i wanted to try out some free glasses

i said yes of course 

and picked them out online and they came super quick

with a nice case and little glasses kit, too

i don't need glasses but i think they are fun to wear

and noah is happy to share them with me

luckily these are much higher quality

so they will last a lot longer

 shirt & shoes: forever 21, scarf: old, jeans: gap, coat: h&m, glasses: firmoo 

the super nice thing is that everyone gets their first pair free if they pay shipping
and they have lots of great styles

for perscription or non-perscription glasses

here's the link http://www.firmoo.com/free-glasses.html

thanksgiving

we had such a nice thanksgiving

we hosted for our first time

and had one of my brothers' families and one of my sisters' families

as well as my parents 

it was really nice and the kids have had so much fun

with their cousins
especially on our new trampoline!!!

today i am thankful for

i am thankful for so many things

but these four little muffins make the top of the list

i am grateful to be their mom

and grateful for my wonderful husband

happy thanksgiving!

our week via instagram

we are hosting thanksgiving for some of my family this year

which, luckily for me means my sister is here

noah was so excited to spend time with his cousins

he faked being sick at school

so he could come home early :)

then i got stressed about everything that hosting thanksgiving entails

this is my stressed face

we went and hung around ikea 

and bought a new (bigger) dining table

came home and baked a pie and boiled potatoes

and my sister and i went to see breaking dawn part two tonight

so much fun!

i'm super excited to see more family tomorrow

and host my first thanksgiving

wish me luck

sunday best: family edition

i haven't done a sunday best post in a while

so here we go

dress: asos, boots: steve madden, socks: target, shrug: nordstrom rack

 this outfit was so comfortable

 socks under my dress, holla!

 gettin' olive's shoes on

 olive wearing a favorite of hazel's hand me downs

and standing in the last of our snow

 noah did his hair today (that never happens) and wore glasses, too

so fancy

 hazel is in love with her new headband we bought at the bijou market yesterday

handsome hubby

 michael made eleanor practice her standing skills for her picture 

she'd just woken up and wasn't very amused

noah and hazel waiting in the car

michael says they look just like us