today i kidnapped my husband

 chambray & bracelets: forever 21, blue cords: gap, boots: steve madden, sweater: macys, watch: boutique 

 since we were on BYU campus, he said i had to make a Y

so like i said, today i kidnapped my husband
i used the help of the three cutest girls i know

two of them were even in tap attire 

(extra cute)

i made him go to lunch at cafe rio

and to target, too
poor guy

ps i'm trying to layer more
it adds so much more to the outfit
but it's really hard for me for some reason

michael says they get it from me

our girls are stubborn

they do what they want when they want

notice the picture of olive (above)

she pushed all the chairs over in the kitchen this morning while saying,

"mom, i want candy" over and over

everything has been a struggle lately

getting dressed, changing diapers, taking naps

hazel's been pretty good

except for when she wakes up in the middle of the night

throwing crazy fits that you can't console

while she kicks at you and yells, sometimes waking up olive

or when she orders me around to do things for her she can do herself

despite our family home evening lesson on respecting our parents..

olive is a maniac.

she fights with us about everything

and she hates michael if i'm around

she won't let him do anything

she even yells at him for driving the van because that's my job

if eleanor needs me, olive needs me more

very possessive of her mama

which is sweet...but having two "babies"  is not fun

oh and eleanor, sweet sweet eleanor

she doesn't want to nap

or do anything other than sit on my lap

pulling my hair like crazy

if i shave my head (again), you'll know why

and when i complain to michael about these girls

he sarcastically apologizes that they're just like him

which we all know is true........

thank goodness for noah being such a nice boy

is it bad that michael and i only want more kids

if they can be boys?

ps. i love my kids. all of them.

Random finds.

sweatshirt and shoes: thrifted, jeans: gap, earrings and scarf: vintage from my mom

i love shopping at a variety of places for our family

i've always done this

probably because i love clothes so much!

i'll happily go from the mall to an estate sale or thrift store

i don't discriminate

this outfit is proof

Today I am grateful.

(We got lots of snow!) 

Today I am grateful that after a long week of fighting children and impatient parenting, I could go to church and do a service project for neglected and abused foster children. That I could appreciate my children. Even their fits and their sticky fingers. I am grateful for my husband who is the best father my children could ever have. I am grateful for the opportunity I have to be a mother and the blessing that it is.

insta-olsons

gallery wall in the kitchen, we voted

eleanor helping michael with homework, and her first ponytail

 posing in the hardware store, i want to eat her

i love it when noah lets me dress him, waffles for dinner

olive loves sharing a car with eleanor, i love slurpees

hazel, olive and giant snowman, i made olive a dress and hazel a skirt

eleanor found the doorstop, hazel "planking" (you called it, natalie!)

olive break-dancing, sweet thrift find for noah to grow in to

you can follow along on instagram "myolsonfamily"

First day of tap class.

I started to rethink whether Olive was ready for tap or not, and i was going to wait a few more months, but as soon as Hazel switched from ballet to tap today, Olive joined in without any instruction from me. So. I guess they're both in tap. 

 I thought it was funny they didn't stand by each other. I will probably encourage them to next week.

Olive was easily distracted  (she really liked the sticker they put on her right foot) but the class is short and the other moms didn't mind at all. Either way, it's really cute and it's nice for her to get to feel like she's one of the girls.

sewing: polka dots

First, a few things about me and sewing: I  love to sew but I don't use patterns. Most of my fabric comes from my mom's stash or remnant sections of fabric stores. Second, I hate going to fabric stores, probably because fabric stores and 4 kids don't mesh.The trouble is, I rarely shop with something in mind so I like to have fabric on hand and then decide what to use it for later. Anyway, this knit polka dot fabric is really cute

and fun to work with. I can't remember where i got it but I used it all up. First I made this dolman top for myself a few months ago.

Then yesterday I had the itch to recreate the dress i made for Hazel a couple weeks ago because she wears it all the time and it's so darn cute. This time I made it a little bigger and added a ruffled collar. 

I made Eleanor some pants.

And bows with the remaining scraps.

The fabric is gone with a capital G. 

Do you love polka dots as much as I do?

just a couple of (pink) kittens

eleanor loves pulling hair and trying to put it in her mouth

loves it! (poor hazel)

olive is always wet

seconds after she put her top on, she spilled water all over herself

i'm pretty sure this is the third night in a row this has happened

oh, and olive isn't olive unless she's scowling

and hazel either posing (above) or putting something in her mouth (below...eleanor's fingers)

 oh, these girls

rocking their clearance pajamas i've been waiting a year for them to wear

so pretty in pink

and so darling all matchy

but so different!

i love their little big personalities

what to say, what to say

have i mentioned

that i hate having a private blog

it makes me feel claustrophobic and alone

i have the urge to do it every so often

but it's the worst

i'd rather delete this thing

annnnnd

somehow i started a fashion blog

not on purpose...i don't know

and i need to run

and i'm sick of being fat

and eleanor got her first tooth today

so that's something

it only took her a good 6 weeks or so

to get it through 

it's a little lonely in utah

i'm not going to lie

it is

i miss my friends

so anyway

if you notice my blog being public again

don't judge

we all know how impulsive i am

hello tattoos.. 

i wish i'd outgrown my 18 year old impulsiveness

but i guess not

the thing is

i have invested 4 years and nearly 1000 posts into this little

"family" blog/my personal podium to share what i want to

sdljdfkjdlfjd

husband style

 shoes, pants: banana republic, cardigan, tie: tommy hilfiger, shirt: costco, glasses: ray ban 

this is my husband 

looking dapper for church on sunday

ready for church

trench, heels: nordstrom (old), skirt: old navy, shirt: gap, tights: target, necklace: gymboree

bracelets: forever 21, watch: boutique

First of all, I am completely in love with this new trench coat.
Second, my husband bought these shoes for me our first Christmas together
almost 6 years ago. He did a good job, right?
Third, my son asked if I was pregnant in these pictures. Boo!

eleanor is seven months

our darling baby girl is seven months old today

this last month she has started really moving

she crawls, she can sit up, she tries to eat everything on the floor

especially paper

she has also tried climbing the stairs which really surprised me

and she's getting good at standing, too

 she likes making noise with her toys so sophie the giraffe is a favorite

she likes throwing things around in the kitchen to hear the noise that makes, too

we had a rough couple of weeks with her adjustment to her new formula

but she seems to be past it

and has been sleeping through the night again as of this week (yay!)

i was concerned she had reflux but i think it was just her system trying to work through things

and getting used to new formula and solid foods

it still hurts her to burp or spit up but she doesn't seem too bothered by it

the solid foods she's had are squash, bananas, rice cereal 

all of which were storebought and all of which she hates

and homemade pears which she loves

she is super close to getting her first tooth

her bottom middle left

and still super loved by all of us

ps. eleanor got her first tooth 11/6/2012

election day!

date night date night date night

michael's aunt debbie and cousin jennie

came over yesterday

to watch our kids so we could go on a long date

debbie was here from washington and jennie lives an hour away

and this was their idea, so sweet

we hadn't been on a date in months

 we started by going to the temple

we ended up doing sealings which was special because it was exactly 5 years ago

that noah was sealed to us, if i'm not mistaken

  then we shopped at the mall

sweet hat, right? we did not buy it

but michael did buy me some super nice things (pictured below)

 we had dinner at P.F.Changs

it was so good (and peaceful without kids)

 here i am in my new jeans and trench coat 

i loooove them

we wanted to see a movie but there's not much to see

so we were going to go to a sports comedy show 

but we missed the first show they did and had to wait a couple hours for the next one

while we were waiting we happened upon 

this little venue instead

 and listened to some live music at velour in provo 

3 bands played but the middle was our favorite

and we bought their cd as a token to remember this glorious event (a rare date)

 our stamped hands (we felt so hip)

and ended the night trying to get slurpees at two different 7-11s 

but the coke wasn't ready at either one

(we've been regretting not buying the world's largest rice krispy treat)

and ended up with maverick coke slurpees (they were decent)

it was amazing having that much alone time with michael

it was one of the best dates we've ever been on

thank you sooooooooooo much to debbie and jennie

you are amazing and we love you!

pinned it, wore it

have you seen this cute outfit on pinterest?

i don't know the original source (the only flaw with pinterest)

but i thought it was a really cute fall outfit

and realized i could easily recreate it

here's my take

  jeans: old navy, boots, coat: macys, infinity scarf: etsy

thanks so much for reading!

have a good weekend!!

ballet and tap

funny story (not funny haha)

hazel's been in ballet here in utah

and some of the girls stay for tap afterward but we haven't

because we don't have that kind of money

but hazel would love to tap so i've felt pretty bad for her...

so olive, eleanor and i take hazel to ballet every week

and olive insists on getting dressed up just like hazel

well...i found out today that the tap class afterward

is just an add on class that's around 20 minutes long

and it's only FOUR dollars to add hazel in to it

i wish i had known that before

but either way, she'll start next week

annnnd we're going to try olive out in it, too (!)

apparently sometimes they let 2 year olds take it

we'll see how it goes

if she likes it and does well, the owner is letting her take it super cheap

i'm pretty excited
and so are the girls, of course
ps. these pictures were taken right before ballet today

dolman shirt

shirt: gap(similar), jeans: & brand, shoes: forever 21

 i love this shirt

whether it is or it isn't, it feels flattering

and i like that it can be dressed up or down