Eden

I'm making I'm a Mormon buttons!

2012-01-18T18:01:00.007-05:00

Our church is campaigning for the public to know more about Mormons- hence all those really cool commercials that have been airing recently. On the mormon.org website, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints can create a profile so that friends and family that find it hard to approach us, and vice verse, can read a little more into what we believe. Everyone 14 and up has been asked by their bishops to create a profile. Being in the youth program in our congregation, there are a lot of valiant 12 and 13 year olds who aren't able to participate. But I may have been able to find a way- Make an I'm A Mormon button!! I have one on the side of my blog here actually---------------------------->

That button will take you to my mormon.org profile, but I'm actually making buttons that the girls can pin on their purses or backpacks and they can share a little more about what they believe when anyone interested asks them about it. Cool, huh?!

If you're interested in making a button of your own with any kind of design, I'm ordering mine from www.wackybuttons.com

To check out someone you might not have known was famous, go to http://mormon.org/me/5233/Brandon/

Update:Thanksgiving and Christmas

2012-01-04T16:25:00.010-05:00

Oh Wow! Time has flown by!! Thanksgiving and Christmas, both a blur, are done and gone. I do have pics to document them. Also births and deaths to think about around this time of year too. The most important is the birth of Christ. I enjoyed the love and laughter of family and friends and now maybe my life can slow down a bit for me to update my blog every month. Maybe. Anyway....

Ok, so let's go back a couple months to November and Thanksgiving. It was mediocre really, I mean, I had a blast at Holly and Dale Kolvig's which is where we went later, but as for Thanksgiving with my family, it was so so. Rachel wanted to do something at my house, since she and Brandon are now divorced (shocking, I know! sorry if this is the first you heard about it), so she wanted a get together with our families. I really didn't feel like cooking, but we invited Allen and Christine and kids over and Brandon was going to come with Rachel's two kids, and the missionaries were coming too, but the only people that came was Rachel and the missionaries. I was miffed a little, cause I cooked for six/eight extra people and only three showed. It turned out that Brandon got started late frying a turkey for his family's get together, and Allen and the others were going to Christine's mom's, but they knew that when we invited them, so... I don't know, maybe Thanksgiving is just touchy because that is also the anniversary of Sarah's death and I miss her a lot! She would've gotten us all together and somebody would've fought and some deviled eggs would've been smashed... sorry, just reminiscing... *sigh*...

And then it was December and we went through Adam's birthday...

That's a lot of candles ;)

Then we went through Mom's birthday and then my very own birthday!
(if Adam has pics of my cake, I'll post them later- thems a lot of candles too!)
Here is a video of our church's bishop playing a game at the youth Christmas party that night:

And so then it was Christmas, and our tree was up and decorated, and this was also the first year that we put lights up on the house. We were going to put a big wreath up on the front of the house, that I had made, but it will have to wait till next year... time has sped by.

Christmas dinner was awesome, and I enjoyed having all the family together. Well except for Michael and Bekah's families, but we had my cousin Christie and her husband Tj, with little Ty in tow, and Uncle Barry and Aunt Roselle and her mother, all of which were a great addition to the festivities!

We had pictures taken with Santa, as well as a family pic taken...

Tripp is such a little ham, but look who he gets it from, lol:

We also have one where Sarah has her mouth open wide, so it definitely is in the genes!

And Marley was 7 months in this picture- she has a great smile :)

Erick's little class had a Holiday Spectacular- he's the one on the front row, in the green shirt and tie (the lady sitting down is almost covering him up with her head). While the teacher is talking at the end, he starts blowing me a kiss. He's so sweet!!

Hope y'all had a Merry Christmas!!

Marley is 6 months!

2011-11-17T12:16:00.006-05:00

Ok, so a quick flashback to Halloween. This year was fun :) Next year is going to be more challenging with finding/making/getting new(er) costumes for the boys, but I won't worry about it... till the last minute before Halloween probably, lol.Marley was a rainbow- her white sweatsuit was the cloud and she had a rainbow tutu on... CUTE!!

Erick was Mr. Incredible (again), Tripp was Spiderman (again), Chrissy was a witch. But what was super special about this Halloween, was that DJ Lance Rock came to our church's Ward Halloween Party. Chrissy was so excited :)

Awesome, right? Yessss....Okay, so Marley is so big!!

Playing Catch Up- Marley is 5 months!!

2011-10-25T08:24:00.003-04:00

Ok, so I missed a month somewhere. I mean, I know I lived it, I remember writing the date a few times, but it sure flew by really fast. So here is a picture of little Marley. I know it's not as nifty as the past posts, where I compare her in the same outfit a month later, but there is no way I should torture her- she's not going to fit into it :)

She's a chunk, and a very happy one- always smiling and giggling. She has her moments like everyone else around here, but I think she does her part wellof balancing out personalities in our family.

Marley is 4 months!!

2011-09-18T22:18:00.003-04:00

Chrissy's rainbow b-day party pics.

I made the bow and the dress- yay me!

Time sure has been flying fast, and I have been flowing along on it's current. So far there's been some surprises, but no waterfalls... yet ;)

Erick also has started to school and he is doing so well. He had to get adjusted to the new rules, i.e. raising hands and such, but he's getting along. And he still has some rough days, but I'm glad that he is so sensitive and his teachers care about him.

She's 3 Months :)

2011-08-16T22:16:00.005-04:00

Another fun-filled month has flown by!

And yes, this outfit really has faded. Does anyone have a favorite detergent that really helps color from fading? If so,let me know :)

She has such a great smile!!

rick's first day of Kindergarten has arrived and he loves it- I'm so glad! I'll post his cool pic soon!

Until next month :)

Tons of fun!

2011-07-21T22:19:00.009-04:00

Ok, so super busy July is almost over! Let's do a recap, shall we?

Chrissy has turned into quite the little artist. For now it's just the demand and NEED to draw that literally screams out of her, but I secretly enjoy it when she just HAS to draw :)

We went to North Carolina to visit Sam and Lashun... I mean Sam and Namera, that's what she prefers to go by now :) We tried to experience fire works, but a huge tree was in the way. We still had tons of fun!

We went blueberry picking with my mother-in-law. The kids liked it, but I found out that Chrissy doesn't really like blueberries. That's okay, that just means more for me!

The boys had a dental check up and Chrissy did too! It was her very first and she was awesome... in fact, a little too awesome. She didn't even blink.

Tripp was none too happy about his visit though.

We also went to my family reunion up in north Georgia. I love my reunion. I wish I didn't wait till once a year to visit, so I plan on taking a few trips between now and next year, so that I can get some good practice in with my card partner. My cousins and I always get together after the eating is done and play Rook. Ever played that game before. I've played it ever since I was a little girl, and sat at the table with the adults. I guess I was pretty good since they never told me to go away, ha ha.

Erick is riding on the same horse that I rode on when I was younger, isn't that awesome?

And last but certainly not least, I've been getting my craft on!!
I've gotten all these ideas from somewhere else, so if you are interested in having that info, just let me know. I'm nursing and typing at the same time and I don't feel like adding the links right now :)

This first one is a little booklet that should help Erick with his phonics, but mainly rhyming.
He's had such a time
learning his rhyme,
but soon he'll see
he can do it with ease.

Next I bought some letters at the craft store and fancied them up with yarn and a twisted flower-just needs the green felt leaves, but I ran out of green felt, ha. These will hang in their room. I'll be doing something different for the boys.

This is the material needed to make a belt that Tripp desperately needed.

He likes it too :)

And this is of my own design. The handle on this car seat really needed something to make it not look so pitiful. The plastic on the handle was having some kind of weird reaction to.... I have no idea, but you could stick your finger through it. Yeah, gross. So I added some duct tape, but it still needed some aesthetic to make it nice, so I sewed this baby on by hand and it works great!

2 Months!

2011-07-13T14:45:00.007-04:00

Marley is growing so big!

She's filled out this little outfit pretty well. I had some trouble getting it off, so she won't be wearing that again!

During this past month, Marley took her first bath.

She doesn't look particularly happy, and she had this anxious look on her face the whole time, lol.
I also had my 6 week check-up and I snapped a couple of photos with my mid-wives.

Eileen was the mid-wife with Katie interning under her, but Katie was the one who actually helped me bring Marley into this world. Don't you think that Eileen looks like Molly Shannon! All I kept thinking was... SUPERSTAR!! LOL!

I also gave my wild child a hair cut. On a regular day, you would see Chrissy like this:

Dirt and all! But Adam put his foot down, and I finally cut her bangs. It was actually more hair than I thought, so I was able to have a lock to save in her baby book. She wasn't too happy about the cut though.

Marley is a chunk and she is super smiley!!

I love her smiles- she is too cute!

Till next month!!

Sorry for the influx of old posts...

2011-07-05T12:54:00.000-04:00

I am making a book and categorizing my older posts, so I apologize if your email gets bombarded- please enjoy catching up! Or just delete them for now, ha ha.

Garden Update...

2011-06-30T12:36:00.006-04:00

Attack of the killer deer!!!

They are lurking around at night, munching on your peppers-

eating your tomatoes-

pooping in your yard-

and biting the heads off of unsuspecting sunflower seedlings!!

So this is all what I found this morning as I was watering the garden.
First I thought... CATERPILLARS!!

I cannot stand them! They are my nemesis, but I think I have found a way to combat them effectively. But nay, it was deer. The proof was in the poo-ing that I found in the yard... luckily. I hate being wrong about the type of predator. Fortunately, they didn't really eat anything that I am hoping to eat. I picked this huge soon to-be-red tomato this morning.

The solution? Well, I quickly went on amazon.com and snagged this little puppy-

Better than a puppy, and it comes in a set of two. It's supposed to keep more than just deer away, so I'm super excited about it. I'm going to put one on both corners and hopefully it will do the job. For now I'll have Adam and the boys refresh the human smell to repel the deer until it comes in the mail :)

At least Erick's original sunflower bloomed beautifully!!

In the garden...

2011-06-20T15:24:00.004-04:00

Tomatoes,

and cucumbers,

and cabbage,

oh my...
Oh my indeed! Check out what happened when I cut off the head of this cabbage.

I was leaving the leaves and stalk as a distraction for whatever critter was already munching on it and look what started growing. There were actually four heads but I pulled of two in order to make room for the remaining two to grow bigger. I didn't know that more heads would grow, but it makes me happy. I love cabbage!!

My tomato plants look like they are doing well, but they really need more nutrients. Most of the flowers are falling off instead of producing tomato buds, so I fertilized yesterday in hopes that it will start producing more.

My cucumbers are getting bigger, some already to pick. My brother-in-law has a great refrigerator pickle recipe and I can't wait to make some. Because I love pickles too!!

My bell peppers have yet to blossom any flowers, and my onion"s" are now down to onion pretty much, but I've really enjoyed my garden this year :)

I always get some kind of weird fungus:

Erick's sunflower is almost ready to blossom as well!

Marley-1 month old

2011-06-16T14:29:00.006-04:00

So Marley is one month old today! She weighs 11 pounds and 6 ounces. She has really been a little joy. She is always nursing and is a constant source of entertainment for the other kids- even if she's asleep.
Erick constantly asks me if he can kiss/touch/hug Baby Marley. He is an expert on her feelings, because he is always telling me what she wants and sometimes what she says... hmmmm. He has great reflexes with her pacifier, and says to her that she better not spit that out now, he needs to play his video game. He's a great big brother, and since we taught a FHE lesson on how to be a peacemaker, he is trying to be a good example to the others and not fight and tease. It's really tough, but I tell him that even peacemakers make mistakes and it will get easier over time.
Tripp always want to be close to Marley. His time to hold her is like playing a game of catch. I put Marley in his lap, he kisses her head, and then immediately pushes her back to me. He is such an amazing boy. He has the capacity for huge amounts of compassion and kissy-love, as well as emotional rage that consists of screaming fits up the stairs to his room when he's in trouble. He tries my patience the most out of them all, and so he's going to help me be the super-mom I'm destined to be. I just hope that I make the cut.
Chrissy is a whirlwind of development. She is saying new things all the time! She loves Marley, but has no concept of the meaning of soft. She is very rough, but I'm beginning to think that's just her style. She's right there with the boys and gives them constant "little sister" abuse :) She loves to sing and plink a little tune out on the piano... and I think she crashed my mom's laptop. Luckily Mom fixed it :)

I'm going to post updated pics of Marley in the same, if possible, outfits as her younger pics in order to see how much she has grown. She definitely looks like I've puffed her up a bit, lol.

Marley's Photo Session

2011-06-03T15:57:00.006-04:00

My friend Danna Keith took these photos. Isn't she great!! Her info is at the bottom :)

Finally!!

2011-05-16T17:04:00.005-04:00

She's here and she's perfect! Marley Jean Olsen was born at 2:51pm, weighing 8lbs 1.5oz and 20 1/2 inches long! I was a little worried because my contractions weren't really that horrible and I was still at a 1. BUT, once they broke my water, those contractions got harder of course. When I couldn't bear them any longer, I was able to get an epidural and that was about 2:30pm. Remember what time I said she was born. Yes, I had barely started feeling the anesthesia when I started feeling like I needed to push. And 20 min later, she came right on out! She's an awesome nurser too!!

Baby time :)

2011-05-15T06:54:00.002-04:00

So tomorrow is the day! I'll go to the hospital, Piedmont Newnan, at 6am. I really like my mid-wife, but she is nothing like Dr. Moeling- and I'm not writing this just because I know she might be reading this). Let me explain:

Just for review, I have never gone into labor naturally. And I try not to get annoyed when I hear, "Well, eventually you will." Who wants eventually?

Baby 1- Erick: So sweet, but 9 days late. After being at a 2 for two weeks and having my membranes stripped(OW!), I was on pitocin for 5 hours and still had to have my water broken before he came. Then a couple hours with an epidural and fifteen minutes of pushing, Erick was born weighing 8lb 9oz.

Baby 2- Tripp: My water broke a week early- yay! No... I went to the hospital and they weren't 100% sure that my water broke so they sent me home with instructions of what to watch for and to come back if I needed to. That was around 3 or 4 in the afternoon. So at 8 the next morning, when I woke up to go to the bathroom, I felt smaller- well, I knew that my water had broken(I had been passing fluid all night).
So I went back, they tested me again and that's when I met Dr. Moeling, who informed me that usually when a woman's water breaks, she goes or is in labor. Usually. I guess I'm not usual, but I'm pretty sure I've written that in my profile :) So I waited the full 24 hours to see if my body would go into labor on it's own. To make a wonderful story short, a repeat of my delivery with Erick happened, except I opted to have an epidural in the beginning along with the pitocin, and Tripp came. And fast too by the time I needed to push- 2 pushes and the little guy was out, weighing a whopping 7lb 12oz, ha ha.

Baby 3- Christina: I was due on a Wednesday. So my doctor and I looked at her sked and I scheduled an induction for the Saturday before my due date when I knew my doctor would be on call. Everything was a pleasant blend of both my previous deliveries and Chrissy was born at 8lb and 4oz.

So what's in store for baby 4? I didn't have it all planned out, but I had a pretty good idea of what I would like to happen as long as my body was showing progression. At first, my mid-wife had told me that they don't want to schedule before 39 weeks, which was fine with me, I just needed a specific day and to know that she would be there (the baby is enough of a surprise, I don't want to be surprised by not having my doctor be available for my delivery- it happened to me with Tripp, but I was extremely blessed). The mid-wife nodded at all of my concerns of my past deliveries and whereas, I know she was paying attention, I don't think she was really listening. She checked me out and my cervix was still far back and hard and I was dilated to a 1. The next visit, I met the other mid-wife and was told the "eventually" phrase again, but that as long as my body cooperated, my tentative plan should be okay. The visit after that was when I thought I was going to be very angry... I guess I can be a brat, but that wasn't my intention and I don't want to tell anyone their job, but I know my body- at least what I've come to expect from it. Anyway, when I brought up the "plan", my mid-wife intern said that policy is they don't like/want to induce before 41 weeks. My jaw hit the floor. After some sputtering and stuttering of what I was told before, she adamantly told me that upon researching the latest literature and such that "blah, blah, blah.." I was listening, but I don't feel like typing all that. I was very surprised and not at all happy and didn't feel like I applied to the normal literature. Not that I wanted to risk higher odds of having a c-section, but lots of things ran through my head. Like, I have big babies and I didn't know how easily, at 41 weeks, a ten pound baby would come, or if I had to be induced at 41 weeks, because "eventually" still hadn't happened, what would have been the problem/difference with inducing at 39 1/2 weeks? I told her that if I had to wait 41 weeks, then I would find someone else to deliver this baby. I really wanted to be checked first to see how far along I was before we had this conversation, but she told me that she'd check me out and then go and chat with the mid-wife. I was soft and effaced 50% and still at a 1. As I sat in the waiting room trying not to fume, I really felt overwhelmed. I don't want to have to "schedule" the baby, but things in my life right now have been really busy, and I wanted to have a plan- I wanted to know I would be in the hands of my choice of provider, with my husband there, and my children looked after and fill-ins for all the other responsibilities that I have coming up with my church calling, etc. I was really missing Dr. Moeling. But the intern wasn't gone long, and she informed me that I got my wish. But not necessarily because of my very well put together argument, lol, but because the Sat after my due date, which is the day they were leaning for induction, was a midwifery convention in Arizona, or some place far away. She told me that they wanted to be my provider and their main concern is that the baby is healthy- uh, mine too- but because if my labor was to run into the next day, they didn't want to have to bail on me because they needed to go to this convention. So, needless to say, tomorrow is the day, and I really think that my mid-wife has labeled me a troublemaker, but hopefully we'll see eye to eye more through this delivery and afterward.

I love to see the temple :)

2011-04-13T09:09:00.004-04:00

Mormons have temples! They aren't regular meetinghouses where we go and worship for Sunday services. In fact, temples are closed on Sundays. Temples are special places, dedicated as houses of the Lord, where only worthy members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints may attend. In temples, specific ordinances are performed. For example, one ordinance performed in the temple is baptism for the dead. What in the world does that mean, you may say? Well, just as a person is asked (yet required) to "shed the natural man" in order to come to the waters of baptism in this life, a person must be worthy to perform baptisms of deceased persons. Not just any person, but family and loved ones who have passed on without this special act performed. But what if they've been baptized, you may also ask? It all comes down to authority from God- which will be saved for a different post at a later time :) Also, marriages are performed in the temple. The Atlanta Temple is where Adam and I were married "for all time and eternity". That's actually verbatim in the ceremony!! No till death do you part stuff.

**this was taken at our reception in Newnan. I'll try to add a picture of us at the temple later :)

Two weeks prior to the dedication of a temple, it is open to the public for tours. See, it's not that a temple is secret, but it is a sacred place and we want to be able to share it with our families and friends before it is dedicated. But once it is dedicated, only worthy members can go in. The Atlanta Temple closed down 2 years ago for remodeling, and it needs to be rededicated before any ordinances or ceremonies can be performed. So from April 9 - April 23, the temple is open for tours. I encourage all my non-mormon friends and family to take this opportunity to see this beautiful building and feel the peace that we find from there. I am going Thursday night with my friend and her kids. If you are interested in going, here is a link to print out "tickets"- they're free, it's just to control the flow of visitors so that everyone can see everything and ask questions, etc -http://lds.org/reservations/0,10751,1619-1-742,00.html

I hope if you're interested, you'll make this effort to go- there is only a week and a half left!! Adam and I are planning to go with our little ones next week, so if you want to come with us- just let me know :)

I get by with a little help from my friends...

2011-04-03T00:19:00.002-04:00

So, today was a good day. Most of my days are pretty good anyway, but lately I've felt a little low. Prolly hormones, but I have been missing my sister Sarah. She died before I got married and before I had any children- it would just be neat to talk to her about these experiences that I now can relate to. Especially because I'll be having my fourth child, tallying the numbers to two boys and two girls, just like her. Well she had boy, girl, girl, and boy... but still. I have no doubt that she was able to somehow know of all that's happening in my life. Whether she's looking down on me or listening to the radio of the living ( I made that up, it's not a mormon thing), I would very much like to ask her questions and just to talk like we used to. Sometimes when I run through my phone of people to talk to and no one's available, I think about her. I should probably just talk to her like she was sitting next to me, I believe she'd be able to hear it or at least get a message that I'm thinking of her. I'm sure she's just as anxious to talk to me as I am to her. Well, some day... we'll see each other again and we'll have all the time we need to catch up. I love you Sarah!

St. Patty's Day

2011-03-17T10:18:00.003-04:00

My Granddaddy Jack's mother's name was Katie Mae Kelly. From her, I can only go back as far as three generations, but I want to start doing a little digging to see if I can go back any farther and hopefully into Ireland. The original Kelly (or O'Kelly) family was of Irish decent from Virginia and later moved to North Carolina. They moved from there to Georgia. It has been difficult to trace this line since the name has been misspelled, i.e., Kelly, Kelley, O'Kelly, O'Okelly, and O'Kelley. Some of the family members fought in the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, were farmers and preachers. There is even a road in Chauncey, GA that is named Kelly Farm Rd. So, when Rebeccah asked Erick if he was wearing green today, I realized I forgot it was St. Patrick's Day, which I do every year. Luckily he was wearing green and so Bobbie couldn't pinch him when he got in the car to go to school. I decided to make breakfast more interesting by celebrating with something green to eat. My friend Wendy is way better at this than I am and even has a tradition of doing something cool every year, for every holiday for that matter. So with respect to my heritage and a shout out to the Hill's, I made toast with green jelly and green milk. I know, nothing big, but hey... I'm pregnant :)

2011-03-16T22:13:00.001-04:00

Day at the Park

2011-03-04T18:05:00.002-05:00

We had fun playing on a warm, sunny day.

Fun while it lasts...

2011-02-18T23:37:00.004-05:00

The weather has been so nice this week. I don't want the cold to come back!

She kept trying to stick the straw up her nose?!

And just to compare to the snow that we had earlier this year:

Valentine's Day

2011-02-16T18:00:00.001-05:00

Sleepy Heads

2011-02-09T08:43:00.002-05:00

So, you know when you're rocking a baby, well a toddler really, and you get interested in one of the blogs that you've been reading and the rocking... slows... down. Then they start to rock on their own to kick start you back into rocking them. It's pretty cute. Chrissy had an ear infection, and was being really whinny and very bratty. Figured out the problem, got her on some meds, and she started being funny/sweet Chrissy again. Well not this morning. She is trying to find a way to physically attach herself to me so that I can't keep putting her down. It's so frustrating and tiresome. And I'm already holding a baby! But, as I'm sitting here writing this and rocking her, I look down and see that she's fallen asleep- mystery solved.

Recycled magazine baskets

2011-02-03T20:05:00.003-05:00

I decided to organize a little and de-clutter as much as possible, so I made baskets out of old magazines. I got the tutorial from this awesome little blog and decided to give it a shot. My basket-weaving skills leave a little to be desired, but hey- it got done in one day. If it had taken two, I wouldn't have finished :( But I made two baskets, one reddish and one yellowish. The small, red one is for remote controls and the bigger, yellow one is for video controllers. Awesomeness. Now I need to focus on the rest of the living room, ha ha.

Cute Frilly Socks

2011-01-28T20:46:00.003-05:00

I got this pattern from HERE. I guess if you wanted to make some socks for a boy, you could just hem the edges, instead of stretching them to make them curl up.

2011-01-26T09:01:00.004-05:00

I've buckled down and decided to get some of my priorities straight. Like reading. I love to read. I guess I love reading more than I love sleeping, since I'll sacrifice precious hours of dark silence to the newest novel that I have, instead of cuddling up next to my honey and passing out. As a Mormon we're counseled by our leaders, as well as commanded by the Lord, to read our scriptures. My bedside table is set up with my scriptures next to my lamp, and when I climb in the bed with my other book, I place it on top of my scriptures. Ok, starting to get the picture? So, I challenged my young women at church as well as myself to just start out reading five minutes or more before going to bed- which for me means "before reading anything else." Unfortunately, the only set of scriptures that I can find of mine at the moment are my Finnish set, but after a week of reading them, I am excited to be back studying the language as well as reading. If Adam is still awake when I come to bed, I'll read my five minutes out loud to him, which he can't understand a word of but I translate the gist of it after I'm done. I've noticed a lot of improvement in my stress level and attitude during the day. I'm so glad too, cause I've been pretty short-fused this pregnancy. So I feel like I'm getting not just spiritual blessings, but academically uplifted as well.

Here's an example of a verse from the Book of Mormon:

Ja tapahtui, että minä, Nefi, sanoin isälleni: Minä menen ja teen sen, mitä Herra on käskenyt, sillä minä tiedän, ettei Herra anna ihmislapsille mitään käskyjä valmistamatta heille keinoa toteuttaa sitä, mitä hän käskee heidän tehdä.

And click Välittääkö Jumala siitä, mitä teen elämälläni? to hear how Finnish sounds, but you have to click on the video of the girl.

Singing Time

2011-01-19T10:12:00.005-05:00

Chrissy is so funny. She LOVES to sing. I'll hear her humming or la-la-la-ing. Some of her favorite songs are "Boom Boom Pow"- Black Eyed Peas(thanks Nana), which she just says "boom, boom, boom" over and over, and "Hey Soul Sister"- Train. I really like it when she sings this one. I learned the chords to it, so as I start to play the chorus, she joins in singing "Heh-ay, heeeeeh-ay, heeeh-ay. To-niiiight". Although her "tonight" is mainly just "iiiiii..."- cute right?! And I thought Tripp was musical, but she's started singing at an earlier age than the other two. Erick likes to sing "Old MacDonald", but he's a little shaky on the second line of "and on that farm..." so he asks me to sing it with him. I don't mind. I sing all the time. Sometimes I sing about what I'm about to have them do- like take a nap, or eat lunch. I have been known to sing a punishment or two, which was probably a punishment in itself, but it brightens my mood. Tripp has been watching episodes of Speed Racer on huluPlus and sometimes I hear him singing "Go Speedracer" to his own special tune :)
I have always wanted a family like the Von Trapps- you know, everybody sings and it's not just all in unison. I've asked a few mothers that have grown children who attend choir with them, or participate in musical numbers as a family, what their secret is of getting their children interested in singing. One said to sing all the time- I checked my little mental box off on that one. Another said to bring them with you to choir and anything else musical that I might lead or direct or participate in. All good advice. But I also worried- what if my boys take after my husband who, although he sings very well, refuses to sing in public and only sings in the car when he thinks your sleeping? He did that with my mom, and it was so funny when she said, "Wow Adam, you have a good voice," and he said, "I thought you were asleep!"
And yet another mother assured me that her husband never sang, not because he didn't want to, but because he couldn't carry a tune, but he always supported them and came to their performances. I'll have to make sure Adam does at least that!
I guess if I ever record Chrissy singing I will post it on here, it is too cute.

Columbus Stake Youth Conference 2011

2011-01-15T23:13:00.002-05:00

I just got back from a youth conference in Columbus, GA. I am now the Young Women's President in my ward (which means church). Symony and I took a couple of our young women down on Friday evening for a dance and then we spent the night at a host's home and got up this morning for an afternoon filled with motivational speakers and a spiritual devotional. I was pretty excited to go for several reasons.

1. I did not have any little kids to look after- I got a mini-vacation from being a full-time mom! I'm so thankful that Adam was a trooper and took care of all the kids and I didn't once get an emergency the-kids-are-driving-me-mad call.
2. I got to know my 1st counselor better. Ok, let me explain. I have two counselors called to assist me in this presidency and even though Symony has been a friend for a while(we attend the same play-dates with our kids all the time and etc.) I haven't really connected with her on a one-on-one basis yet. It was a lot of fun and I think we stayed up later than the girls did talking. I sure was tired for the speakers and devotional that they had today.
3. I was excited for the spiritual uplift that comes with a gathering of this magnitude of christian teenagers, all uniting together to learn more about Christ and his teachings. It was awesome. Their little testimonies that they shared were quite interesting at times and very heartfelt, but it was really neat to see kids rising above the troubles of the world and trying to be different.

I was really surprised to see an old friend there- Ryan Roney. I felt lucky enough to be able to dance at least to one slow song, because I knew Adam wouldn't mind, ha ha. Adam doesn't dance anyway, which is a bummer sometimes but I deal :)

I remember going to these youth conferences when I was a teen and if someone had told me that one day I would be a leader chaperoning at a youth conf, I don't know if I would have believed it. It was neat to view all the future leaders of my church in their little faces.

It's a girl!

2011-01-11T18:25:00.002-05:00

So we're expecting a baby girl to the crowd. We've picked out the name Marley Jean Olsen. I am more excited to be having a girl now that I know that it is a girl. I wasn't sure another girl would be good for Chrissy, but I'm liking the idea that, hopefully, they'll be really good friends and maybe Marley will be more like Tripp, and they won't fight over clothes because they won't even be close to the same sizes. Oh well, wishful thinking on my part. As long as they grow up to love and respect each other, then that's all a mother can ask for I guess. BUT I'm going to try real hard to help avoid fights that my sisters and I got into- mostly about clothes. The infamous "Tinkerbell" shirt will forever be in the family history books as a hot topic between me and Sarah. It was my shirt anyway, she should have got her own :P

Happy Birthday to Me

2010-12-22T13:18:00.003-05:00

I had a great b-day yesterday! The best part was dinner and a movie with Adam. Aside from the nausea that seems to hang over my head at the most inopportune times, it was very nice. Yay for me!

Earlier, before my date, I had gone to a party at my friend Kelli's house and I gave her a nativity that I had made from Russian nesting dolls.

Ode To Heidi

2010-11-11T12:04:00.004-05:00

Okay, so by the ticker on the right, you can see that we are expecting baby number 4. We are very excited, and I have been waiting for the 12 week mark so that I would be comfortable enough to share the news. But we have a long way to go still. May 20 to be exact, which happens to be the day after Erick's birthday. You never know though. This baby could come early- I'm not opting for later :)

Yesterday I had an Ob appointment and heard some sad news. Everything is okay with the baby so far, and we even got to see baby in an ultrasound, because we couldn't pick up his heartbeat with the little doo-hicky. I figured it was because of all the extra necessary padding that my body has been placing in the appropriate, yet not so desirable, places. The sad news was that my doctor... my sweet, great doctor is resigning from obstetrics. She's still working with the same practice as a gynecologist, but she regretfully informed me that she would not be able to deliver my baby. It's for a far more better reason that she is setting this aside and focusing her attention on more important things- like her own family, etc. But still, I'm going to miss her. She was more of a friend than a doctor. And we're going to definitely keep in touch and I'm going to finally give her the pictures of her holding baby Tripp and baby Chrissy that I should have already given her. Here is the story of how I first met Dr. Moeling and I will miss her terribly. She was more like family, because she helped me make mine. I hope that everything she wants in her life happens, and I know that the sacrifices that she makes in order to have these things happens are seen by the Lord and that He will bless her all the more for it. She is a great woman, and now a greater example to me.

Halloween

2010-11-01T10:31:00.002-04:00

Halloween was so much fun this year. Erick was a dragon for his pre-k party and Mr. Incredible/Dash for the church Trunk or Treat. It was funny when he called himself Mr. "Credible", ha ha. Tripp was Spiderman and very cute at it. I drew a little bit of a mask on his face and Erick's too to go with their costumes. Chrissy was a ballerina. She had some tights that had little ballet slippers knitted into the pattern, and it was so cute. She had her little pink tutu skirt on and then she pranced around! I made this adorable little owl hat for her and she loves to wear it. Bekah is visiting for a little while, and Ben is having a good time hanging out with his cousins. He was dressed as a skunk and was so cool! We happened to have an extra little friend hanging out with us that night. His name is Hayden and he was dressed as Mr. T! It was so cute and perfect!! I'll post some pictures later!

Art lessons

2010-10-07T10:29:00.002-04:00

Vincent Van Gogh, Starry Night

I am so excited!! I searched around in my area and found a nice little old lady that teaches an oil painting class. What!? You don't think I need lessons cause I'm already good? Well, thanks for the confidence boost, but oils/acrylics is not one of my best medium I feel. Which translates into- I don't have a technique that I am happy with. I had put school on hold right at the time I would've been taking all of those wonderful studio art classes, each of which are approx. 2hr and 45min long. And I wish I could go back now, but I chose to be a mother first and I can finish school later. In the meantime, I can do what I can to upkeep this talent of mine. And it's a great chance to learn from someone more experienced than I am. I'm thinking about joining the Newnan Artist Association here in my community, so this is the first step to getting my foot in the art world again. And I start Monday! Yay!

Chrissy

2010-10-01T10:44:00.002-04:00

She is so sweet and cute and funny! She has a huge personality and totally wears it all on her sleeve. When she's happy, you know it. When she's sad, you know that too- girl's got a set of lungs! She'll give you kisses, great snugly hugs, and high fives and if you give her a choice of what to wear, she'll pick out a skirt. Isn't that funny? My sweet little tomboy of a girl, who tries to keep up with her two very active older brothers, likes to be girly every now and then. She makes our home a happy one.

Dolphins

2010-09-28T21:05:00.004-04:00

They are beautiful creatures, wouldn't you agree? Smart and social, these animals are extraordinary. When I was a kid, and I would play the game "If I were a sea animal, I would be...", I always picked dolphin (You know you played it too). Basically cause I thought it was cool that they could kill sharks by hitting them in the gills with their noses, but also because they are so majestic. It's tranquil when you see them swim and you hear wonderful stories about how they have saved human lives:

Dolphins save swimmers from shark

Dolphin Saves Boy's Life

'Dolphins saved me from sharks'

I watched a documentary on Netflix the other night. It's called The Cove and I was really intrigued by it's summary. It wasn't until after watching the whole thing that I was saddened, enraged, sorrowful, and a ton of other emotions. It makes me wish I knew someone from Japan so that I could ask them if they have seen this movie? And if they knew that this slaughter was happening in their country?

It makes me want to boycott all things Japan, which in my case is totally impossible on some levels- Adam works for a Japanese company, and my boys love Pokemon and the movie Ponyo. But believe me, it will be a slow-going process, but I have to do something. I signed a petition. And if I had any money to donate, I would! I encourage you to watch the movie, look up the websites and blogs, and do what you can to help save Japan's dolphins. Most Japanese people don't even know this is happening. And it's possible that they are being poisoned right now by unknowingly eating dolphin containing high levels of mercury packaged as something else! Can you believe that!? There is a city in Japan called Taiji. This is where the inhumane act of dolphin killing takes place, and then they turn around and try to make it mandatory for dolphin to be served on the lunch menu to children! Thank goodness some people stood up for their kids' lives and it didn't happen! Dolphin meat contains high levels of mercury and poisons people. This has happened before in Japan, in a city called Minamata. They call it Minamata Disease. The company responsible for polluting the bay with it's waste back in the 1930's to 1960's is still paying compensation to people in 2010!

It's unbelievable what is happening and I am glad that the people that can do something about it are to the best of their abilities. Watch the info, save the dolphins!

TWINS

2010-09-22T16:43:00.004-04:00

There are so many babies about to be born or will be soon! Two of those babies are related to me and are floating around inside my sister Bekah.Yes, she is having twins!! They are fraternal.
Identical twins fascinate me. I have always been interested in the fact that identical twins share the same DNA, faces, and other things that should be solely unique to one person. There is even a Twin Day festival that is held in Twinsburg, Ohio...

A festival for the mere celebration of being a twin?! How cool is that! I always wanted to be a twin. Maybe I'll have twins.

Pre-K

2010-09-08T08:55:00.002-04:00

Also something that happened in August is that Erick started Pre-K. He goes all day from 8-2:30 and he really likes it. He has two great teachers that know how to keep him straight and one of his best friends is in his class with him- Bobbie. It's a she, not a he, and he probably likes her a tad more than she likes him, but that's to be understood. There's only so much a 4 yr old girl can like about a 4 yr old boy, right? :)

The Month of August

2010-09-07T12:58:00.005-04:00

I've missed a few very important things that happen in August.
8-13
One being my 5 anniversary with Adam. We share a love for sushi- don't like it? Well, let me tell you, it is sooooo yummy! Most of the sushi I eat is actually cooked anyway, but I got Adam hooked on it and it's something we go do on special occasions. When I was in Utah in April, Michael took me to an all-you-can-eat sushi restaurant, where you are only allowed to dine for an hour! Well we were ordering left and right and pretty soon, I was nice and full... but it kept coming! Michael and I were doing our best, Velvet too, but everything started to taste like glue and I had a thought of going to the bathroom to throw up some, so that I could come back and help Michael finish, ha ha. If we had left any sushi uneaten, they would have charged us for it. So there's a tip for you!

8-mid of the month
Tripp busted his head on a toy and had to get a staple! Yeah, all was peaceful and Tripp and Chrissy were taking a nap- hence the peace- and suddenly there was this loud bang! So I sent Adam upstairs to check on Chrissy in case she happened to crawl out of her crib and fell to the floor. Next thing I hear is, "Eve! Eve!" Adam came out of the boys' room with Tripp in his arms, blood dripping from the back of his little head. We go to the bathroom and try to clean it up, but Tripp wouldn't let me touch it. My mom and I decided to go and take him to the ER, just to make sure he was alright and to see if he would need stitches. He was totally fine in the waiting room, in fact, he threw the biggest tantrum. When the doctor was checking him out, he asked me what happened and I told him that I really didn't know! One minute he was sleeping, the next bleeding! My mom had found a toy on the floor that had a little blood on it, the only toy in the room and it was not sharp at all. We figured he must have stood or sat up and fell backwards off his bed and his head landed on the toy? Yeah, it does sound crazy. The doctor said he would need just one staple and Tripp got it taken out a week later. The staple is now taped to a page in his baby book :)

8-28
Chrissy's 1st birthday!! She is is taking steps and blowing kisses. And is as cute as can be!!

She mooched a little off of her cousin Sarah's birthday party that we went to that day.

Then we had a little party at Grandma and Grandpa Olsen's house!

A Family in Need

2010-08-09T08:47:00.003-04:00

I'm doing this for a friend of a friend, because he asked for the help and also because it really touched me. I don't know this woman, but I can't imagine the grief that she's suffering and will suffer in the future. You can read more about her situation here, and my friend is asking for any type of donation. Don't feel obligated to help, just help if you can. It would devastate me to have my house burn down, but to have not just one, but two of my children die in the fire would nearly kill me. Clay is a very trustworthy friend, and I know that he will make sure that the family gets anything that is donated. It's unfortunate, and it's situations like these that chastise me back into the reality that I have nothing in my life to complain about, so I need to thank Heavenly Father for the blessings that I know he is giving me. He's taking care of her babies now, but she's sure going to miss them, as would I. She must be a strong woman, and has to be for her other children. God usually blesses his children through us, so if you can give something, then click on this, it's the same as the link above, and my friend will tell you how.

Camping and Tubing and Bears?! Oh my...

2010-07-27T08:22:00.009-04:00

Yes, all of the above play an interesting part of my weekend vacation. It was the 3rd annual family vacation of the Olsen/Dotson/Yontz/Knox/Vancour + Tingen/Woolverton/Cook -Vancour this year. We made our plans way back in March and we all put our two cents in on likely places to camp. We hit the beach last year, so we decided on the mountains(which we'll prolly alternate every year). I knew of a few different places in Helen, GA and someone suggested The Squirrel's Nest at Unicoi State Park. She had been there several years back for girl's camp with church, so we all came to an agreement and decided that it would be the place. We would reserve as many as possible so that we could have the site exclusively to us. She informed us that The Squirrel's Nest was made up of covered platforms that were open on two sides with railings on the third, and that you couldn't park right there, that you would have a short hike from the car. I went home and looked it up and thinking it might be a challenge, I thought that it looked interesting. I had come up with a sleeping plan so that kids wouldn't roll off- Yes! Rolling off would be a problem, but not too bad. Or so I thought...

So we get checked in, and the flippant young man at the desk gave me a pamphlet about bears, along with my receipt. He said you need to read this, and I asked him, surely you are joking. He informed me that not just an hour ago they ran a bear out of the lodge parking lot and that they have been having quite a problem with bears this year. So for our protection, store all food items as well as soap/toothpaste inside our cars at night and prepare food away from where we are sleeping. My eyebrows are so high up on my head at this point! I hesitantly got the little blue papers to mark our two spots and got back to the car to tell Adam, as we set off to find the place. We parked in the designated parking and the boys and I skipped off to find our site. Then our skips turned into walking... then bewildered trudging... until we came upon the little "comfort station" which I soon found out was the halfway mark from camp to our car, not exact, but close enough. It was like a quarter of a mile up hill, both ways, to and from the car. I stopped and asked a nice retiree on a golf cart what was going on and if I was mistaken somehow in thinking that it was as bad as it seemed. He regretfully informed me that it was, but if I wanted to switch to a tent site, they had some available- well guess who didn't bring a tent because they aren't allowed on the platforms? Oh yes, he remembered, and he then asked me if I had a wagon. Well see, I try to be nice, especially to old, trying-to-be-helpful people, but what!? Really? Sorry, I forgot to pack my wagon, which of course we always bring camping just in case this type of circumstance arises! I told him no, we didn't have a wagon, and he then told me the location of the nearest Wal-Mart, a city away, and that maybe it would be worth it to buy a tent. I said thanks and goodbye, and secretly wished that he would give us a ride back to Adam,as we watched him drive away. What was done was done, so we trudged back up hill to Adam and told him the news. He wasn't too happy either, seeing as he would be a pack-mule this entire vacation. I did have Adam take us back to the lodge so that we could get a refund on one of the platforms, seeing as we couldn't use it to store any of our stuff.
We were the first of the families to arrive, and as they slowly trickled in throughout the day, the initial feelings were mutual. But we were all glad to be together and looking forward to all the plans that lay ahead.

We had a nice dinner and the Tingen's got the fire started for marshmallows.

That night proved to be terrible in referring to the sleep I had. That actually pretty much sums up the sleep I had for the whole trip. Not only did I wake up every time one of the kids moved, I couldn't go back to sleep for a while, thinking/listening/shining a flashlight for bears. Yes, I was that paranoid.

The next day we tried to do things together as a group:
Anna Ruby Falls
This was a nice hike for me, .5 miles up hill and pushing 20lbs of baby was a great workout. Lisa Cook's little boy, Ethan, soon buddied up with Erick and they became best friends. It was so cute! Adam and Tripp were hiking buddies as well. The falls were beautiful and I loved the roaring of the water.

We also went to Charlemagne's Kingdom to check out model trains. It was awesome! This man had built to scale a city of... everything! It was patterned after northern Germany and included the Matterhorn. He had hot air balloons, a roller coaster, spaceships, much more, and of course... trains! He even had moving parts for the hot air balloons and even a little swimming figurine.

Ethan had a little birthday party complete with a Spider Man pinata.

Yes, my son is Spider Man.

That night, as Adam and I were getting ready to lay down, we had an infestation. A moth as big as my palm was flying around our little lamp. I was trying not to get hit by it, and as I moved to get away, Adam called for me to watch out! Right above my head was a huge spider, suspended on it's web. I think it was waiting for me! We called our friend Kevin to come and kill every thing, and Adam borrowed a broom to clear away anything else that might have been hiding. We got a little chuckle from the neighbor in front of us, but soon all was well again. Until... after I managed to fall asleep, I awoke to find Erick standing next to me. In my sleeping stupor... I tackled him! I thought he might of been sleep walking off the platform! It occurred to me later that he might've just been standing next to me calling my name, but... yeah. So I held him tight as he cried, and he asked why I scared him. HA! Turns out he needed water. Unfortunately though, throughout the rest of the night, he kept waking me up asking me "what's that noise" and "is the bear going to get me" type of stuff. Ughhh...

Saturday was the big tubing event! Three hours on the river. Wasn't that bad, didn't get burned. The babies slept on Adam while I maneuvered us around. My legs got quite the workout on this whole trip.

Finally it was time to leave, and although it had a ton of cons, the pros were better and we had a good time. Looking forward to next year!

Pickin'

2010-07-14T09:30:00.003-04:00

I'm going camping in a couple of weeks with a group that we go on vacation with every year- this is the 3rd annual trip. The first time we went camping was up in north Georgia at Lake Carter. Last year we went to St. Andrew's in Panama City. This year we are camping in Helen. I love Helen! This is where we almost always went camping when I was growing up. And then I continued that tradition with my friend Rebeccah for a couple of years. That where Adam and I went on our honeymoon, and where we went for a little excursion of our own when Erick was little.

I love the little Swiss theme, and all the shops- the candle shop was my favorite.

I've rock climbed on the rock "face" of Mt. Yonah with neighboring campers, I was scared to death and did not get that far, and I've tubed down the Chattahoochee River countless times.

There is great history there and Anna Ruby Falls is really beautiful!

I'm wanting to learn some new guitar tab so that I can play the guitar around the campfire again. I've written some new songs of my own, but who doesn't like to sing "Kumbaya"? Just kidding, there will be no singing of that song, but definitely maybe some Beatles songs and maybe I'll ask for requests- Freebird? That's a tough one, I've already tried it, lol.

Keep on Swimming... just keep swimming...

2010-07-03T23:17:00.003-04:00

I love swimming and always have. I remember pretending to have fins like a fish at a family reunion at Jaybird when I was little. Then it became a mermaid tail when the movie Splash came out, and again when the movie The Little Mermaid came out. I remember being 10 and climbing up the high dive in Riverton, Utah and biting my tongue as I hit the water- I am so afraid of heights.

This is a batik piece that I did in high school of that high dive memory, got a little banged up a few years ago in storage. The pool probably wasn't as big as it seemed to a little kid, but it definitely felt like I was 20 feet up in the air- and who knows? Maybe it was. But I can't for the life of me figure out why I went up there in the first place. I'm proud of myself for using a little courage though. Chalk it up to my love of swimming... I went swimming today, and it was fun.

You're A Grand Ole Flag

2010-06-17T13:19:00.005-04:00

I would say that my family is a musical bunch. I mean, maybe not in the traditional way that some families are. No one had actual lessons for any instruments, aside from band or chorus in school. But our love for music runs deeper than that. Now, I've mentioned that my dad was never around growing up, but he did play the bass, guitar, and piano. He was a natural at it. I'm sure that influenced Sam to pick up a guitar, which he is very good at. But that's not it. I think our love for music came from my mom. She always played classic rock in the car, and I can't speak for the older three, but I know that Michael, Rebekah, and I always sang along with our Mom to the radio. We would even sing parts. Remember that part in Wayne's World? The Queen sing-a-long? That was us, and in fact, we laughed so hard at that movie, because we knew somehow they got that from us. Music has always been a part of my soul, even when I couldn't play the guitar. I even ride around with my kids now, singing songs from the radio, church, or some I just make up to pass the car ride. Sometimes the kids would rather listen to the radio, but most of the time they give the substance for the songs. Today we were on our way to Erick's swim lessons and we passed several American flags and I remembered that growing up, whenever we saw an American flag, we would sing the song You're A Grand Ole Flag. My mom said that she and my dad and the older three would sing that a lot, but since it was kind of pre-me, I just remember it with Mom and us younger 3. It's a great song that instills patriotism and a love for freedom. I told Erick that whenever we saw a flag, we would sing the song. We happened to see quite a lot, which made me proud of my fellow Georgians, and it was really cool to see Erick so excited to see our country's flag. We happen to have one flying in our front yard, and I'm glad that I was brought up with a way to help me learn to love this country and what it really stands for. It made me a little sad to see so many houses without that wonderful symbol of freedom, and I hope that this Fourth of July will bring a sense of urgency to some people that freedom is a privilege and WE have to fight for it, not just a few people who hold positions. My family also sang the Pledge of Allegiance after some of us sang in a Fourth of July choir presentation to veterans several years back. I'm going to teach that song to my kids as well, so that they will also know it and be able to remember what America really stands for.

Water Fun

2010-06-16T09:21:00.004-04:00

We're going to the water park today. Can't wait. No, I'm sure it will be fun, and I'm going to sit as close to the water without getting soaked. I think I'm going to bring a fold out chair instead of sharing the benches. That way I can sit in the shade and face any direction I choose. I remember before we had Newnan Utilities park, we had Water Works park. It was awesome! It had a little merry-go-round, and monkey bars, and water to play in. I remember feeling really upset when they closed it down, and by the time they had built Newnan Utilities, I no longer had the same desire to play in the water at a park that was any smaller then Six Flags or White Water. Bummer.

Working on it...

2010-06-14T13:32:00.002-04:00

Okay, so you know those projects that you really want to work on, but something is keeping you from doing them. No you don't, you prolly get them all done. Yeah, I'm talking to you.

Did you think I meant you? Well, I didn't. It's just that I had to blow off a little steam. I'm sure I'll get all things done on my project wish list that I would like to do... someday. I have some portraits to do of my kids- FUN! But first I have to figure out what pictures and then where is space... it's a project just preparing for a project. Some of my projects are hindered by the fact that our dining room is a temporary storage room. Adam took everything our of the sunroom and turned it into our home gym. It's pretty awesome and I'm actually getting good use out of it too, but he put everything into the dining room and I have been ignoring it. I'm noticing more and more everyday that I could be practicing my piano skills, art, etc. if all these boxes weren't in here. I guess if I haven't used all this stuff in a few months, then I really don't need it? Maybe, but I'm just going to have to bite the bullet and go through it all... again. Maybe I should just trash it, and then when I need something that I might have gotten rid of, I'll just buy it or rethink if I really need it. I could even borrow the something that I might need. Yeah, that's actually sounding good. We'll see.

Eve, Eve... how does your garden grow?

2010-06-10T10:26:00.004-04:00

With tomato plants, and yellow squash, and carrots all in a row.

Actually, I picked most of the carrots on Sunday and sauteed them with olive oil and a little butter and brown sugar- they were awesome! They were also really neat looking. Erick said that the three-pronged carrot was a "Fire Nation" carrot because it looked like the Fire Nation symbol on Avatar:The Last Airbender. Yeah, my 4 year old is cool.

This is what my garden looked like two weeks ago:

And this is what it looks like today:

I have a zucchini, finally, and more squash is coming. I have lots of tomatoes that I am trying to be patient with waiting for them to turn red. And the cucumbers are getting big!
Ahhh... gardening makes me happy.

Tennis and Teeth

2010-06-09T13:01:00.003-04:00

Yesterday I played tennis for the first time in a few years. I used to play a lot, even though it was just a side hobby. My brother-in-law Allen, is really good and we would play. I also played with other friends of mine: Mike McAdams, Matt and Allison, and a couple others. Right after my mission, I moved to Douglasville with my sister Rachel. I enrolled into the University of West Georgia in Carrollton, and I soon moved there to be closer to the school and also the guy I was dating at the time. I moved in with my best friend Rebeccah Ewell and then later moved into a little house with my friends Wendi Camp and April Davis. Those years will hold some of the best memories for me. I had great friends, some who aren't together anymore :( , and some I don't get to see but maybe once every two years, and some I get to see at least once a month at Game Night. It was in the house on Brown Street that I started dating Adam. We had gone on a couple of dates while I was living at Beccah's, but hadn't hit it off yet. We were getting close, and he asked me to marry him and he got to know my room mates and the guys that they had started dating. It's funny. We three moved in single and wound up breaking our lease right before a year was up, because we were all engaged to be married. It was two weeks before the wedding, and we were hanging out with Matt and Allison playing tennis- or maybe it was just us, anyway... he sent a great return over the net and as I went to swing at it, I smacked myself in the mouth. Yep, right in the kisser! And I remember reaching up and feeling my mouth and thinking, "Man, the racket broke in my mouth... OH NO! That's my tooth!!" I had broken my front tooth and I was a basket case and crying... well, this was mostly after Adam had gone home. I was crying on the phone to my mom and the next day we called to make an appointment with the dentist. Talk about hysterical, I was really upset. It turns out that when Adam was little, he broke the same front tooth off in another boy's head- yes, head. They were playing some really dumb game of crossing your arms over your chest and running at each other. The boy had turned around and Adam ran at him, but some how it went wrong and Adam lost part of his tooth. He also remembers that the boy got money from the tooth fairy for his tooth and I don't think he got anything, lol. So, Adam and I have more than just matching personalities... and names for that matter. We have matching fake teeth.

Prince of Persia

2010-06-05T09:26:00.002-04:00

Went and saw Prince of Persia last night with Adam and a group of friends. It was a really good movie; I was impressed. Not too cheesy and they didn't have to find the nearest girl and force a crazy love romance scene into it. Okay, well they did find the nearest girl and make her a love interest, but it still was very tasteful. I suppose Jake Gyllenhaal made up for Brokeback Mountain, which nobody could ever pay me to go see, so well done, Jake. Then we made our way over to Stake and Shake where we talked till the wee wee hours. Thanks to my mom, who made date night possible, because she even watched Chrissy for us.

props for the poster

The Art of Projecting

2010-06-03T13:53:00.002-04:00

Last week I bought an overhead projector off of ebay. I'm hoping that it will make painting murals a lot less time consuming and more accurate dimensionally- I mean, most of my time goes to painstakingly getting the proportions correct and what can I say? I'm a realist. If it doesn't look exactly like the photo, I'm not satisfied. But that doesn't mean I'm not an admirer of impressionism and abstract art, although I really can't stand contemporary all that much. I remember thinking that Monet was just an old guy that didn't have enough energy to paint all the details, so he scribbled here and there and from far away, you could see what he painted. UNTIL! I went to a Monet exhibit at the High Museum, and I was totally educated in the life and works of Claude Monet. And upon learning that he painted rather well in detail, he was a hottie in his younger years. Most of his works are some of my favorite paintings and I have dabbled a little in impressionism myself, but I prefer watercolor over other medium, which makes it easier to manipulate a picture.

I went out to water my garden today, not that it really needed it with all the rain we've been having this week, but it was time for some Miracle Grow. I got two yellow squash out of the garden last week, and they were very tasty- Tripp even ate some. I'm just waiting for the zucchini to produce so that I can make some zucchini bread or use them in stir fry, oooh yummm! I found some weird growth in the garden soil by some tomato plants, and upon urgent research found that it was something called Wolf's Milk slime mold, or slangily called bubble-gum mold. It eats decaying matter, but isn't fungus, yet still harmless to plants. They are a pinkish orange color and when they dry out and turn brown, they puff spores out into the air if you squish them, or water them too vigorously.

Erick has a humongous fever blister on his lip and it ran up onto the roof of his mouth. He has gotten them before, but never this aggressive and the poor little guy is so pitiful with a swollen lip. He makes it worse every time by feeling it with his tongue, thus making it bigger. The doctor gave him an anti-viral medication as well as some cream for his lip and already it is looking much better. This cream is some pretty potent stuff too, so I'll be using it when one of those suckers tries to pop up on my lip.

In the Olsen household...

2010-05-18T09:14:00.002-04:00

Kids stuff:

As I'm pulling out of the driveway Erick points and says, "Mom, you have to get in this path(meaning our lane)".
Me- "You're right Erick."
Erick- "You might hit a car, the policeman will take you away, and I will be sad!"

I woke up to Erick telling on Tripp. When my brain finally processed what was happening, I found out that Tripp had squirted out all of the nasal spray. It's the medicated kind that worked super-awesome when I'm congested. Well, he sprayed it all over the carpet and some onto Adam's clothes, shhh... don't tell him. But this is what happened:

Erick- "Mom, Tripp is playing with that!"
Me- "Huh?"
Erick- "He sprayed it all over the floor."
... Tripp gets in trouble and goes to time out. Several minutes later...
Erick- "He sprayed it all over Daddy's clothes and got them wet."
Me- "Well, why didn't you wake me up!"

I guess he figured he did, but as I was posting it on facebook, I thought about another possibility that I didn't even consider.

Me- "Erick, did Tripp spray it in his nose?!"
Erick- "Yes!"
Me- "Oh! Did he spray it in his mouth?!"
Erick- "Yes!"
Me- "Oh no! Did he do it one time or two times?" (I don't think it tastes very good)
Erick- "Yes, he did it more times!"

I had Tripp sniff for me, and his nose was still snotty so he must not have gotten any in it, because this stuff will dry you right up, but in case he ingested any, I'm hoping that the expiration date of 2007 means that I don't have to rush him to the ER. I'm watching him though, for all who are concerned.

After receiving his trophy for T-ball, Erick points to the plaque where the words describe the organization and rec department and says, "There are words on here. It says, 'I hit the ball'!"

I overheard Tripp and Erick in the hallway:

Erick- "You stinky boy!"
Tripp- "I stink!"

gardening with Eve

2010-04-24T22:03:00.003-04:00

Oh how I love spring! The azaleas are in full bloom and blazing with color in the front yard.

Our temple has closed for remodeling, so the gardeners were giving bulbs away to the workers and my mom brought home several different kinds, not having any idea what they were. I immediately planted them in a pattern according to likeness and they bloomed this year too. They were so pretty, but I missed taking a picture of the flowers. Here is the pattern though.

This year is proving to be quite promising with the vegetable garden, even though I started out with seeds growing from a cup and ended up buying plants. (I transplanted too early and the plants died- oh, well) It's practice and plants aren't that expensive anyway. I stubbed my toe on one of the blue crates at Wal-Mart. It hurt, but my tough toenail caught the brunt of it. I made a report just in case my toe swelled up and turned purple the next day. And they must have been worried, because they gave me a call the next day and I had totally forgotten about it, ha ha. Here are the pictures you've been waiting for:

Reunion Trip

2010-04-13T16:47:00.003-04:00

It's been a while, I know. I haven't felt like blogging lately. I went out of town for a week. I flew to Utah for my mission reunion, and the best price for a ticket was to stay for a week. Luckily my brother lives in Utah, and luckily he likes me enough to let me mooch off of him for a whole week. I flew out with Chrissy, and she did very well on the plane. I sat next to a guy who had broken his leg in a car wreck. We chatted here and there, and when I told him my name, along with Adam's, he said- "You know that's a website." I have heard about it on TV, but I have never visited the website. What is this world coming to? Anyway, if I've piqued your curiosity, don't bother- I don't think it's good. On the flight out of Denver to Salt Lake, I sat next to a missionary that was going back to Temple Square from her three months out in the field. She was from Argentina, and very pretty. Memories flooded back to me from my mission. I really had a great time and it was the best learning experience for me. I grew up a lot.

The reunion was awesome and I'm glad I got to see my mission president and his wife one last time- that's what he said to me, lol! "Sister Graybeal! All the way from Georgia! I thought I'd never see you again. I'm so glad you came because it will probably be the last time we ever get a chance to see each other again!"- Isn't he funny?! I saw some past missionaries and we reminisced about the good old days with Pres. and Sis. Hoyt and it was really fun.

The flight back was awesome. I had a layover in Denver, and that is where Gina lives, one of my mission companions. It was so neat to see each other and meet our kids- we both have had three since we last saw each other. We even had one last weird experience. You see, when we were together in Savonlinna, we met the weirdest people. She said it was because she attracts weirdness- and she does! A man sat down next to us and talked our ears off, so I knew we had to get away so that we could spend whatever time I had left having our own conversation. But the man was wearing shorts... and nude pantyhose!! Yeah. Weird.

On the flight home I sat next to a young woman and her mom. I was slightly ticked that she had brought on Pizza Hut pizza and I had none, but she didn't know that I had wanted any ;p And as I was waiting for my bags at Baggage Claim, my sweet Adam came over and gave me a kiss. I was so glad to be home again!

Goings on....

2010-02-25T00:18:00.005-05:00

Let's back it up to where I've left off...

The funeral went well. You can read some about it here, on my sister's blog. She sang a great harmony to the song I wrote, and Kevin Hayes played guitar with me. That was on a Saturday. That next Monday my dad was actually buried, in the Georgia National Cemetery, and he gets a little quote put on his headstone,'Those who wish to sing always find a song', and a picture of the angel Moroni(reference 2.) to depict our religion. Kinda cool.

So then it was that my younger brother and sister were in town. It's been so much fun to have them here. Michael left two weeks ago and Bekah leaves tomorrow, but we have been having a blast. It's neat to see us grown up and parenting little offspring of our own. I'm really glad they both came and they really are great siblings, even though I wasn't always the nicest big sister.

It snowed! It was awesome and we built a snowman that was awesome! You can tell by the pictures.

The butt chin is awesome, sorry to brag.

Adam and I cleaned out the garage and the sun room- finally! Some stuff just relocated to the dining room, but it will eventually find a home in the attic or in someone else's abode. I have several things to yard sale and I have been telling Adam for quite some time now that I will have one, so I have started making a collection for the spring, which is the ideal time to have a yard sale.
Dontcha know.

I have tons of projects that I want to work on- painting murals, drawing/painting portraits, working on pottery, painting gourds, planning my garden, knitting mittens, and anything else that I pick up along the way.

Tripp turned two today- I feel a little anxious somehow. He's growing so fast, not physically, but he just isn't my baby anymore. I know I have plenty of Christina to cuddle, but I just want to make sure that I infuse into Tripp how much I love him. I hope that I can always be that kind of mother. That's how my mother is, so maybe it will rub off.

Ode to Daddy

2010-01-18T08:08:00.003-05:00

Most of you that read this know that my father has died. The more time that passes, the more the anger fades. I really didn't think I would feel anything, especially anger, but it does tend to come and go. I'm not particularly interested in singing at his funeral- you see, I'm a funeral singer sometimes, but I think I'd just like to be one of the crowd. I think there will be crying, but I don't know if it will be from me. I'm not even sure that it will be from any of us kids, except my aunt and half-sister and then my dad's friends maybe.

On a church note, my mom and dad are still sealed together, even with a temporal divorce you still don't get a temple divorce unless the woman has someone else to be sealed to, at least that's how it was back in the 80's and so that's how it's been. But because of his choices, he had to be re-baptized after Sarah, kid #3, was born. So the three older kids are technically born under the covenant of a temple marriage. But us younger three weren't, since he chose to give up those blessings. And even though he was re-baptized before I was born, those blessings weren't restored until just a few years ago. And because us younger kids weren't born under the covenant, we'd have to get sealed to them, but because they aren't temporally married, we couldn't. It kind of sounds complicated and it is, and mom always said that when they died, we could seal them together again, and then be sealed to them if we wanted, although none of us wanted to be sealed to him, even her, but we all want to be sealed to her- whew! A mouthful, but I kind of always wanted to be sealed to him, in a teeny tiny way. And so my mom is clarifying if we can all be sealed together, now that he is dead. I like to hope, in a teeny tiny way, that he would want that too.

But this is a song that I wrote about him a few months ago. Some facts had been changed slightly for artistic reasons, and to shed a little bit more compassion for the man:

The Man From Saint Petersburg

He was born across the sea
Another land to you and me
An American was his daddy
A Russian bride, for his mommy

Momma raised her boy up right
Never left him out of sight
Tried to teach him not to fight
And the difference from wrong and right

Chorus:
But then came January
And things were turning to gray
But he was just a young boy
They said he'd be okay
And she started to pray- yeah, yeah

And the boy became a man
Tried to do what Momma said
Found a wife and had some kids
Gotta job to pay the bills

Played his music on the side
Started staying out all night
Things were fogging up his mind
And he wanted to live another life

Chorus:
And then cam January
And things were turning to gray
He told his wife,"I'm leaving"
And she begged him to stay
He went anyway- yeah, yeah

Then the days turned into years
His momma shed so many tears
Her boy was now a lonely man
And he'd nearly lost all he'd ever had

His kids were strangers to his eyes
He knew nothing about their lives
He'd told himself so many lies
They'd been better off, and it was no surprise

Chorus:
That he lived in January
Where everything was gray
His past mistakes consumed him
But Momma taught him to pray
And he started to pray- yeah, yeah

I think we and our mom are going to try to get together with just us and talk about things. I feel like we can't be really honest with our feelings at the funeral, and maybe we shouldn't be. I'm not one for hanging someone's dirty laundry out in public, especially at their funeral. But there's a lot of stuff to be hashed out and some of us our further along in our healing processes that could help others- I think we all can help each other. And we can all talk about what we did/do appreciate about him and why and etc. I'm looking forward to it.

Baby bonnet

2010-01-02T17:20:00.003-05:00

I'm in charge of book club this month, and even though the book is Pride and Prejudice, someone who might have already read it or was tired of reading it(who would be?)could read related material. Such as: Austenland by Shannon Hale, or Mr. Darcy's Diary by Amanda Grange, or one I haven't read yet is Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith. I'm not sure if that has anything questionable in it, but it seems very interesting.
So since I'm hosting it, I thought I would make a bonnet to wear. I tried it out on Chrissy first and she looks so cute!

I have a couple other patterns that I'm going to try out, I'll post them when I'm done.

So I made some cool earrings...

2009-12-12T16:29:00.002-05:00

Santa Claus is coming to town...

2009-11-30T22:42:00.004-05:00

Christmas 1984

Oh, the antissssssssss..........cipation! I love December. My birthday is the 21st. Adam's is the 5th. My mom's is the 15th. My nephew Nathan's is the 20th. My nephew Jacob's is the 25th. Sarah's was the 29th. My brother-in-law Brandon's is the 30th. My aunt Roselle's is the 31st. And my friend Kevin's and Michelle's little boy "Hamster" both fall on the 21st like mine. They are what my mom calls "star twins".

Something about the winter time just makes me happy. Maybe it's the cool, crisp air that has us donning sweaters. It could be Orion high in the sky, always there when I look up at the stars. It could be Christmas!, and the memories of family and friendly togetherness. I just love December!

You can always go.... Downtown!

2009-11-07T19:54:00.005-05:00

I just love my family! Here we are in downtown Newnan.

We were visiting a friend, Clay. He and his wife were selling their wares downtown today- she makes jewelry and crotchets and he carves neat and useful items from wood.

If you notice Erick in the photos, he has his hand up his sleeve. He still has a weird thing for sleeves; when he's nervous/shy/tired he will try to find a sleeve. He even tries to put his hand up Chrissy's sleeve. When he doesn't have someone else's, he'll use his own, ha ha.

Thanks to Clay for the photos!

Halloween is coming...

2009-10-23T16:47:00.001-04:00

E R I C K

2009-10-08T10:56:00.002-04:00

Tripp's portrait, by Erick:

Iowa Trip 2009

2009-10-07T09:18:00.007-04:00

We just got back from an amazing trip and a long drive to visit some awesome friends. It was so much fun! Rebeccah and her kids and our mothers piled into a 15 seater van with me, the boys, and Christina. Everyone did great, except Tripp grated on my nerves A LOT! But luckily he survived. The drive home was a little stinky, but I am so up to date on my Chuck Norris "facts", and I have been inspired for future paintings!

On our way to Vandermeer Park.

A shot from the Rose Garden:

Back at the house, Bobbie and Erick played in the flowers.

Tripp always tagging along of course.

Erick taking a ride on a scooter.

Tripp decided he needed something bigger.

Whenever we get together, Michelle and I always try to paint or draw something. She had some oils and canvas, so I got to it.

Michelle had a trip to the caves planned for us. It was really cool and very picturesque and I took lots of pictures so that I could paint them. There were a lot of steps, some natural, but most not.
Maquoketa Caves:

It was an awesome trip!

She was awesome the whole trip through!

Nursing Covers!

2009-09-30T11:35:00.002-04:00

Thanks to my wonderful little sister I have sewn my very own nursing cover. I will definitely be able to use this without getting hot and I will able to see what is going on. It's lightweight and has a great pattern! Thanks Bekah!!

Seeing an old chum... well, she's not old.

2009-09-23T14:52:00.002-04:00

I can't wait to visit Michelle!! It will be a long trip, with 2 grandma's, 4 mom's, 9 kids, and 7 grandkids. How can 22 people fit in a 15 seater van? I'll let you try to figure out that riddle, mua-ha-ha. I am so excited! Yay!

A, B, C.... it's easy as... um, 1, 3... 4?

2009-09-10T09:02:00.003-04:00

Erick is learning his alphabet. He really likes to spell things. We have started reading the book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom to him (we unfortunately do not have a copy with a cassette narrated by Ray Charles), and he has really picked up his letters. He spells his name, he spells out book author names that he sees on the table, he spelled out Oreo on the bag of cookies we were eating, and the letters that the water authority spray painted on the road. It is really cute to hear him, especially when he is unsure of the letter or doesn't remember it, and so he just changes it to one that he knows, usually E because that's his favorite one- It's "him," you see.

I'm starting to have him practice writing his name and also sounding out the letters so that he can actually start reading.
M O O N, that spells read.

Happy Anniversary

2009-09-04T09:05:00.003-04:00

Ok, so Adam and I had our 4 year anniversay August 13, yes at some point it will land on a Friday. We weren't able to really celebrate it yet, but we have two movie tickets and a gift card to Subway that we're waiting to use. I love Subway! Anyway, my friend Sara blogged about our wedding those 4 years ago, and I wanted to share it with you- Go HERE for great pics and laughs!

Hello Beautiful!

2009-08-30T20:27:00.003-04:00

Christina Roselle Olsen!

Erick loves his baby "Kissy". I've been telling him to call her Chrissy, because it's hard for him to say Christina.

We're so glad she's here!!

2009-08-17T19:19:00.002-04:00

My preggo ticker says only 16 more days to go, but it's really only 13. I'm having her a few days early, so that my doctor will be the doctor on call. I know that some of you might think that I'm being impatient, but when you can call the shots during your pregnancy, it really is worth it. Plus, I LOVE my doctor. So, I've been having contractions here and there, but nothing really interesting. Plus, I'm really sick with a sinus cold at the moment, so I would be miserable if I was delivering a baby right now. I had a great baby shower, and I got to see a few friends that I haven't seen in a while, as well as getting to know the newbies. It was a lot of fun!

2009-07-23T10:20:00.003-04:00

Ok, so I don't have to look at my brother's mustache any more I'll post about my nesting, which is very little. I've done the most nesting in my head, ha ha. Hopefully it will actually start happening. I'm tired of clutter, and of little things that don't really belong anywhere except a yard sale, which is where I probably got it in the first place.

Poor Erick was playing outside and pushing a medium-size toy car. He fell and skinned his nose up to his forehead. I keep thinking that it's dirt.

I'm going to run them over to the park for a little while today. I want to get some sand and put it in this clear little empty water bottle that I have. Then I'm going to put the little shells that I got from the beach in it, add some food-colored water, baby oil, and have my own ocean in a bottle. It's really for the kids to play with, but I'm going to enjoy making it, and then I can throw the rest of the shells away.

Tripp's doing a little Jerry Lewis on the piano- it's so cute! He's singing too!

Michael Jackson...

2009-07-16T14:54:00.005-04:00

Graybeal... my little brother.

My brother is very special. I hope he uses his skills to the best of his abilities, and makes a very good life for him and his family. So it's a good thing that he already has a job, because I don't think anyone would hire this man:

He looks like the creepy guy that you see get arrested in those old '70 movies for being a pimp, minus the bling and gold chain, or the guy that's the example of a bad disco dancer on a John Travolta flick.(But he is a pretty good dancer, so that puts a hilarious image into my mind and I wish I had saved that video of him dancing to "Funky Town" in his Domino's uniform.)

My little bro, all grown up and creepy looking, you gotta love him!

2009-07-14T16:54:00.003-04:00

I have nothing to write about really. The baby feels very alien right now, and does somersaults inside my very compact belly. I have about 6 weeks left and people are just now telling me that I am finally looking pregnant. Right...
Anyway, I have so many cucumbers(anyone want some?)that I need a simple recipe for making pickles. I have about 10 in my fridge and another 14 growing in the garden and should be ready to pick in a day or two. I bought some jar caps and lids, vinegar, and dill, so I'm going to google a recipe before the cucumbers go bad. Too bad I can't eat them raw, not even one little slice :( My grandparents used to live in Kathleen, and at some point we lived with them. They had two gardens, one vegetable and one was just corn and my grandmother, Mutti is what we called her, pickled cucumbers and they were the best pickles that I ever tasted. They weren't like bread and butter flavored, but they weren't crunchy dill either. They were like soft, dill "chips"; she didn't pickle them whole or in slivers, she sliced them into discs. Anyway, maybe my own instinctual twist on a simple recipe will come out tasting like hers. That would be awesome!

2009-07-01T18:12:00.002-04:00

Erick started swimming lessons yesterday. Sis. Hollingsworth is his teacher and there are three other kids in his "class", Ruby, Christopher, and Kayden. I love that he is so excited about swimming. I could tell an improvement right away. We went swimming at a friend's house last week and he wasn't using his legs much, just mainly doggy paddling(and taking forever)where he wanted to go. A little while after his swimming lesson, we went to our friend's house again and he was kicking his legs and really moving around. I'm such a proud mama!

St. Andrew's

2009-06-29T13:16:00.007-04:00

This was a really enjoyable vacation, even though there were some rough attitudes every now and then. It's hard to be happy all the time when you are sunburnt and have whiny babies and have to unpack camp, yada yada.... but it was still fun. Adam is the worst off- he did not use any sunscreen the first day :(

This is setting up,

and Tripp got so dirty in record time!

An evening at the beach. We came on this trip with a handful of friends and their families. We went to the mountains last year, Lake Carter, and it was a blast. This year we had fewer families, but we plan on making it an annual thing. It is really loads of fun!

We couldn't keep them out of the water, and poor Tripp just kept getting knocked down, but he didn't seem to mind one bit. He just kept going back for more.

We went to the Alligator Walk to see if any were out and about.

No alligators, but I wasn't complaining.

Our last day at the beach.

They played pretty well together.

My cute hubby!

And to prove that I was there, here is my tanned face peeking around the camera:

2009-06-29T09:03:00.002-04:00

The real culprit turns out to be, not deer... no. It is that ugly tomato hornworm caterpillar in a picture in the post below. I caught one that had munched through two pepper plants and was as big as my pinky finger. It made this horrible clicking noise, I guess to try to "scare" me away or maybe it was scared itself and screaming at the two huge sticks trying to pry its legs off my plant. Those things are strong, and I didn't want to touch it. But now I can take down all the red celophane that looked very weird, and be on the look out for these caterpillars. They come out of nowhere it seems. This year for gardening has been a very educational one.

2009-06-25T11:24:00.005-04:00

Okay, I am very protective of my garden. And I don't appreciate anyone coming around and messing with it. This includes YOU:
I had the cutest little budding tomato plant, and you reduced it down to this,

a stalk!

Well, I'll show you. With this:

Crinkly paper to scare you with the noise you'll make as you bump into it. Oh, and not to mention the yellow-eyed cat that will come in handy long before Halloween.

I have yet to find a good way to scare this guy,
but his time's coming.

But there is good news:
Check out this cute little pepper!
The boys of summer-

A budding artist....

2009-06-17T13:16:00.004-04:00

This is Erick's drawing of his Mommy, and I don't really have a widows peek, but he likes to connect his circles. He drew one of my mom that made us laugh so hard, because her head was the shape of a cell phone, which is very appropriate for her.

He mainly draws in green, because that's his favorite color, which he no longer refers to as green-sucker. I'm really proud of him though, and how much he likes to draw and color. He really wanted to help me paint the bathroom walls, which is a really cool idea, but that will have to be for another room.

2009-06-15T22:12:00.004-04:00

I'm so excited about my garden! I have a cucumber, which isn't as cool as I thought since they give me terrible heart burn. BUT, I have some blossoms on my pepper and tomato plants- yay! I really need to put some pictures on here(**Pictures now added). I planted some marigolds in my garden to deter deer and possible other veggie predators. I didn't realize that I had bought and planted the JUMBO marigolds, so they are two and three feet tall and are finally about to bloom.

This was my garden a month to three weeks ago.

This is my garden today!

I'm also working on remodeling my bathroom. I need to post pictures of that too, so that I can share my joy of being creative with you(**Pictures now added). I'm doing a technique of a faux finish with tissue paper- it looks awesome and covers up a lot of imperfections in the wall. The previous owners not only wallpapered the bathroom badly, but they also painted over the wallpaper badly. So this should make it look a whole lot better. It will be the best looking room in the whole house- and I only spend a few minutes at a time in it.

The paint looks gray, but it's really a blue color, and I would post pictures of the whole bathroom, but it isn't finished yet, so I'll make a final post about it when it is all finished!

Potty time (and the livin's easy...)

2009-06-08T18:49:00.005-04:00

Erick is now peeing and pooping on the potty! Yay!!!! It wasn't easy, but it wasn't as hard as it could have been. He has several new toys (his potty prizes) and he gets potty candy, which are mainly Hershey kisses and gummi worms. It's funny because he calls them baby worms. I really wish I could record him and put his funny little voice on here saying, "Mommy, I went poo-poo!" It sounds hilarious, and very southern. He's growing up so fast!

Erick's 3rd Birthday

2009-05-23T23:05:00.002-04:00

He had so much fun and I am so glad!! I'm going to have to post more pics, but these are what I've uploaded so far.

Cousins and friends that joined in the festivities.

Tripp was off in his own little world. You can see the bruise he has between the middle of his eyes, poor little guy.

The grandparents came out to enjoy the fun as well!

And his mother made a great dinosaur cake.

Thanks Kevin, for taking the great pictures!

More Murals

2009-05-16T16:13:00.003-04:00

Monkeys!

I just finished a little jungle scene for my friend's kids' room. It was really cool and surprisingly fast to do, only took about 8 hours or so, maybe 9. There is a window between the yellow snake, which is on the left side of the room, and the chimp is swinging to the right. I feel good about it, whew!

2009-05-12T12:37:00.003-04:00

I am feeling so sick, and plus, I just found a grouping of gray hairs, like they're having a party or something. I know some of you who might have experienced this before me are saying, "So?" but it's my head, and I'm not ready to find white hairs growing out of it. Although my dream is that when I'm old, I'll have white flowing hair like the wizard Saruman, minus evil beard and attitude, so I guess it has to start some how.

2009-05-11T08:45:00.005-04:00

I had a wonderful time being a mother this weekend. My husband waited on me for pretty much the whole day on Sat, even made me a great sandwich, which was sent back to add tomatoes and he didn't even complain. He brought me the pickle jar and took it back after I had my fill. When I thanked him for doing all of that, he said, "Thank you, for always waiting on the kids, and on me, and for keeping the peace between me and your mom all the time." Ha ha, they get along pretty well, but it was so sweet. Then later that night, he went out Mother's Day shopping with the masses. He said he was a little scared, and normally would not want to be around so many people, but he just jumped right in there.
Of course, I have hinted to him for a while now about what kind of gifts I would like. I was extremely surprised! I told him specifically what kind of perfume I wanted, but he couldn't find it. But he did find what I had been gawking over around Christmas time, and I just assumed it wouldn't be available, since I haven't seen it since. Then, he bought me my all time favorite movie, which was awesome! I still don't know why I didn't own it in the first place, but I like the surprise. And I asked him to buy my mom a card, cause he knew what I would get her. Not only did he buy a great card, he bought her some chocolates and put it all in an Elvis Presley gift bag... she loves Elvis. How astute is that! All I have to say is that he is going to be one happy Papa on Father's Day!

2009-05-04T23:02:00.008-04:00

Erick got a car-bed for a birthday present from his Aunt Rachel and Uncle B. He loved it, and is sleeping in it this very second. He was very pleased when we brought it in and after sitting in it, he wanted to know why it wouldn't go? Like I would let him drive it in the house!

His birthday isn't for another couple weeks, but she found it for a great deal!
Tripp fell asleep playing on the step, since I don't let him go all the way up them. He's fine going up, but the going down part is so scary. He refuses, and I mean refuses to go down them backwards and tries to step down them like us bigger folk. He's fallen several times and is still not afraid of gravity. He's sporting the bruise from his latest attempt in this picture.

And stop looking at the dirt on my carpet!!

2009-05-02T09:09:00.003-04:00

Well, I feel like this week has been incredibly uneventful compared to last week, but that isn't a bad thing. Adam always asks, "So, we got anything going on tonight"? And usually we do, or I do, but that wasn't the case this week. I didn't even stay up late watching DVR'd TV shows that I love. I stayed up late reading a trilogy of books that I couldn't put down until I was finished, and another just came out. It has the usual vampire, werewolf theme going on that seems like the new genre nowadays, but without all the cussing and sexual content(Although the illustrations on the cover are pretty misleading). And no, I'm not behind the times and talking about the Twilight books again.

I'm trying to save my budget from the urges to go out and shop for little girl stuff. It's really hard because I like to be prepared. Very unorganized, but prepared. But we're working on it, well I am. We are also getting a new roof next week; hail and whatnot caused us to call upon the fix-it people and that's getting taken care of. Then last night, I mapped out a whole new and improved Olsen homestead, complete with several new closets, one new bathroom, and a more open and brighter kitchen. Oh the fun I could have if everything were free... for me... well just for this remodeling of my home. It's going to be fun anyway, just going to take a little longer than hoped for.

2009-04-22T08:31:00.003-04:00

I don't have much time to post, but I don't have much time to do a lot of things lately. I was playing out in the yard with the boys yesterday, ohhhhing and awwwing over my garden, which is still very much in the pubescent stage of plant hood. Maybe the experts wouldn't agree, but the plants are teeny tiny. Erick was looking around for sticks and saying, "Pyoo pyoo," or however you spell shooting sounds. He was playing guns. It was so funny! I wasn't worried about trying to teach gun etiquette to a 2 year old yet, but he did say, "I'm going to pyoo you Mommy," then he pyood me, and said," it's alright Mommy," with a sweet, concerned face while stroking my cheek. He will be receiving instruction on proper use of guns as he gets older, but it was really funny watching him hold a stick like a shotgun up to the sky and pyooing imaginary things. I mean, how did he even learn the word Pyoo like that?! I would think most guns go Boom, or Bang and we don't own a shotgun and I don't think Erick even knows that we have a gun. Adam says it's just a boy thing, I concur.

It's a.....

2009-04-13T14:54:00.002-04:00

GIRL! I'm am so excited!! She is due September the 2nd and we will name her Chrystina Roselle Olsen, although the spelling is subject to change. Yay!

2009-04-13T08:40:00.004-04:00

So Easter came and went, along with my flowers that were trying to grow. I must have yelled at every kid at least three times to stay off of my flowers. They weren't all flattened, but maybe they'll bloom next year.I also dyed eggs with Erick and Sarah, that's my favorite part!

It was fun though. We had everyone here, and it was really good to see how huge my family has gotten. We're ready to start our own family reunion.

Too bad some of us live expensive-plane-tickets away. My grandmother also died a year ago, so we were able to go to the temple and get her work done for her. My mom is so excited to have had her parents sealed together and be sealed to them. I would be too!

2009-04-08T00:22:00.002-04:00

So, we made a decision a while back not to watch rated R movies. And we just watched an awesome rated R movie, but we had ClearPlay, which is a DVD device that filters out the bad stuff. It is my compromise with Adam, and it has been going pretty well. Although I have a friend who says that she has a problem with supporting rated R films, but that's why I don't go and watch them in the theater. I figured I was actually supporting the person that cared enough to try to "clean"up movies. I really don't miss all the blood/violence, bad language, and nudity. In fact, I'm so glad that I did not have to watch Steve Martin make out with Claire Danes, who really wants to see that? Besides him and he wrote the film. By the way it is not the movie that we watched tonight.

2009-04-04T08:03:00.002-04:00

Okay, I need some suggestions. Even though some may not know my mother-in-law, and even if you know who she is, you still may not know her, but her birthday is coming up. Like, next Wednesday! I want to shy away from the usual rooster present or earrings that she usually gets. She likes the outdoors, but then again, she gets a manicure regularly. She has a garden and some dogs and new baby chicks. She owns a loom and has woven rugs. And so if you have any suggestions- hurry, I don't have much time.

Garden Galore

2009-03-22T21:18:00.002-04:00

So my flowers that I planted last year are sprouting up and the tulip that I planted even bloomed, Yay! I like buying tulips that are wilting from Kroger, because they have them for really cheap, like $1.00 or something, and I bring them home and replant them because they are perennials, and will grow back. Supposedly, and I usually wind up killing my indoor plants, but since this one's outside... it lived!

These are my gladiolas or gladioli, also called sword lily. One bloomed last year, but that was unexpected since I planted them from bulbs last year and they usually don't bloom the first year- so said my father-in-law who gave me the bulbs. I have a lot more around the yard.

Irises that were here when we moved in, but never bloomed...

Irises that I planted last year, along with a new set of wilted tulips from Kroger, which I hope the irises will bloom this year since they get plenty of sunlight..

And last but not least, my little veggi garden. I'm trying to get them to sprout so I can transplant after frost. I realize that I will prolly have to put them in bigger containers, but I have never really sprouted anything but alfalfa and I am excited! Adam built an AWESOME raised square garden container and I'm so psyched. I'll post pics of that later.

Pictures I promised...

2009-03-20T17:46:00.004-04:00

Tripp had his birthday party and a not so homemade cake, but he liked it!

He is also my little musician. Erick likes to play on the piano too, but I think Tripp has more of an interest in the music than just the sound.

I took them to the park yesterday, and they had a really fun time.

Tripp's shirt says, "It's my brother's fault". Thanks Michelle ;P

I'm the 4-leaf clover whisperer...

2009-03-14T23:35:00.003-04:00

Something you may not know about me, other than you Michelle, is that I find four-leaf clovers... and five and six and sometimes even seven-leaf. It's something I've always done, and sometimes amaze those who I'm with. Like on my mission in Finland, there were big fat clovers in one particular neighborhood, and I found at least a dozen in a few minutes. My companion, Sisar Holopainen thought it was pretty cool (they are called neljä apila in finnish).

There is a knack to it actually, I just have "trained" my eye so to speak to find them. There is an extremely lucky patch of clover in my front yard. I don't always pick the four-leaf clovers that I find, sometimes I'll tell other people, "there are some in this area here," and it's fun to share it with others and to hear them say, "I've never found one before"!

I really like this purple shamrock as well, even though it isn't technically a clover. It's scientific name is Oxalis triangularis and someone very cool once batiked for me a shirt with these clovers and some yellow mushrooms, thanks Michelle!

Anybody watch The Eleventh Hour?

2009-03-10T23:22:00.003-04:00

When my mom starts talking politics, the world's status seems so apocalyptic. Everything has a black cloud hanging right over it waiting for lightening to fry it to ashes. I'm not very happy about who got to be president or all the things that he is doing really, but I have to have some optimism. My mom just painted a very dark picture of embryos with stem cells being sucked out of their spines as they're being aborted. It's hard to be happy for while after you hear things like that are now legal. I feel like I should being doing something activist-like, instead of cleaning my home for a book club meeting, which I was very excited about, and still am. But I need rays of sunshine and silver linings, but mom doesn't give me those as she throws out cold, hard facts-- which I would look up, but then it would just make me more sad (and I did look this up). I don't like it. I believe in saving lives, but to take stem cells from babies and then "throw" the babies away because they aren't wanted is tragic. I have maybe a not so appropriate analogy, but not trying to make the issue light, it's like the movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Boxes of chocolate bars are being torn open for a golden ticket, while the bars are discarded, thrown to the floor for the next "opportunity" for a golden ticket. Science hopes for "golden tickets" all the time, and maybe I'll be put in a similar situation so as not to be so judgmental. But I would rather save the baby than just use it's stem cells.

2009-03-03T23:30:00.001-05:00

I just wanted to make my presence known. I have nothing to say right now, but just letting you know that I'm here... watching... reading.

I'm feeling goofy- I'm just listening to my "cool tunes".

2009-03-02T23:36:00.002-05:00

I really need to bring my camera up here and post all the pictures that have been accumulating on it. For example, we had a birthday party for Tripp on Sunday, but I had to call the fam to cancel because of the snow. So we had a lot of cake and ice cream. And I took pictures of that, but I didn't take pictures of all the snow. In fact, we didn't really go out and play in it either. I just wasn't in the mood for wet and muddy things (babies) in the house. We had a nice fire for when the electricity went out, which kept us from freezing, but it really only lasted about an hour.

GPB was having an Anne of Avonlea marathon and I cried a lot at the end. Anne and Gilbert were so meant for each other.

Erick is surprising me all the time with his speech. When I actually buy the cord for my video camera to upload to the computer, you guys will join in the mirth. He's very silly!

Pay It Forward

2009-03-02T08:34:00.003-05:00

My friend Michelle is doing a "pay-it forward" post. In order to get something from her, I needed to follow these rules. Which will be the same for the first three people who comment on this blog.

The Rules:

Be one of the first 3 people to leave a comment on this post and I will send you a handmade gift sometime in the next 3 months.
You get to pay it forward as well by doing the same thing for 3 people on your blog.
Once you leave a comment telling me that you want to participate, you need to make a pay it forward post on your blog within one day.
So, anyone game? You can be a friend, family member, or even a random visitor to this blog. Just as long as you’re willing to pay it forward, you are eligible to participate!

Please also answer these questions three:
1) What is your favorite color?
2) Would you like a craft that is knitted or painted?
3) If painted, and you have a preference, watercolor, acrylic, or oil?

Okay, so I totally forgot about the do it within one day posting, but you guys get the gist, and this is my post needed for my cool handmade thing from Michelle!

2009-02-24T22:11:00.004-05:00

So, Michelle, one of my all-time (since the pre-existence, I'm sure) best friends tagged me:

7 random/interesting facts about myself:
1. I like the names of my kids to make "cool" initials.
2. I chipped my tooth two weeks before my wedding, so my smile isn't original, it's fake, well the tooth is.
3. I have exercise-induced asthma.
4. I have really dry feet, that crack and scratch my husband.
5. I like milk chocolate, but I don't like dark chocolate, chocolate ice cream, or chocolate cake/icing.
6. I would like to decorate cakes someday; I love that show Ace of Cakes!
7. I love the fact that I married a "farm boy". You wouldn't know it if you saw him now, but he won a goat milking contest. That's sexy, lol.

2009-02-12T21:25:00.002-05:00

Ok, it is official. I am preggo! I am 11 and a half weeks, which is awesome! I am not throwing up anymore, and finally can eat and enjoy the meals that I make for my family. I was starting to be a little resentful, but secretly. I didn't sabotage the food so that I would know that it didn't really taste as good as it looked. It was really all about the spaghetti that I made and couldn't eat, but now I can, only thing is... I'm too tired to make it now. I'm getting tired a lot, and I have two very heavy boys and a set of stairs. But I am not complaining, my husband does most, okay ALL of the carrying if the occasion should arise. I am due September 2, which feels like a whole year away. I won't show for a very long time, because being pleasantly plump and overweight that I am, I will be 9 months and people will say stuff like, "What?! You're pregnant? When are you due?" And I'm all like, "I'm 9 days late!" That's a true story by the way, and in mine and the lady's defense, I was sitting down and turned around talking to her and she hadn't seen me in a long time. But still! I was 9 days late.

2009-02-03T19:59:00.005-05:00

Okay, so I finally changed the music! Anyway, I am so proud of Erick! He has gotten five stickers for peeing in his potty! And we only started this blogs ago, one of my personal faves. We're pretty cool and laid back about it today, now that I know that he will do anything, even get ring around the butt for a little green "tee-tee" cookie. It really works! But today, I mentioned it a few times and he was like, ehhhh, so I figured we'd lay low. It isn't as if he's pooping in it or anything. If that was happening, there would be non-stop potty-fests and he would be on an eternal sugar high. I need to use toys though instead of food/candy. Probably anything would work for him, he's a sucker for green, heh heh- catch that one?

And for those of you who knew I had a cat, Otis is no more.... in our house. He is now a very happy feline taking up resident at a very good friend's home. He isn't as lonely as he was here. There is a dog, sometimes two, and another cat, so he's right at home. He came from pretty much the same situation when I adopted him. He is a very pretty cat, and he will be missed, but his stench will not be!

2009-01-28T16:00:00.004-05:00

I'm over at my sister's house, watching kids while she's at an appointment. Erick and Sarah are playing, a little too loudly, in Sarah's room. There are some loud smacking noises while each takes a turn laughing, but I'm sure they aren't hitting each other, ha ha, or they would be in here tattling. I think the smacking noises is from them hitting a plastic toy that plays music.

Whenever I am at Rachel's house, I always want to eat something, which is weird, because she NEVER has anything to eat. It's always tuna and peanut butter, cans of carrots or black-eyed peas, and potato flakes. I guess that is good in actually keeping me from snacking, but I always tell her that she's like "Mother Hubbard". She says that there is plenty of food in there, or she'll say that they haven't gone shopping yet this week, but the nursery rhyme comes to mind when I walk in her kitchen.

Tripp is asleep, he hasn't been feeling well. But I'm always nervous and want to go check on him, but when I open the door, the noise wakes him up. I need a camera on his mobile, so that I don't have to worry if he's not breathing or that he's fallen out of his crib and I'm being too stubborn to check on him cause I want him to get every bit of sleep that he needs. It's a little nerve wracking and sometimes I'll quietly peek if I get too nervous. But I just checked on him and he's fine, whew!

Been a long time...

2009-01-26T21:38:00.003-05:00

Well, I've been a little busy, but that is no excuse for leaving fans hanging. So, since I've missed most of January, here is an update:

New Year's Resolutions-
1. Cut down on soda(I drink too much of it)
2. Get healthier(notice the casualness of that)

I stopped at two... I'm not very goal oriented this year. I mean, I have long term goals already started from previous years that trump any new stuff.

Erick is doing really well at talking, for him I mean. If you haven't heard, he has his own language for things-
An airplane is a "shooooooo..", you know the sound that a plane makes. My mom got him a little toy airplane, and so I was asking him where his shoes where and he went around looking for his plane. Once we understood each other, we were able to leave out the door, but it was really funny.
He also knows the color green, but he says that it is green-sucker, sounds like "we-go-go", but it's funny considering when I was little, my training pants were called "potty-pants-on" cause mom would say, "Let's get your potty pants on!", and a bathing suit was a "baby suitcase".

Tripp is walking now. He was looking a lot like Pinocchio, but now he's a little more stable.

We just got back from a trip to Salt Lake to visit my brother and his family. Erick and his daughter, Karli, are so cute together. I promise to post pics as soon as I get them. The plane ride was horrible- we had to drive to Birmingham, fly to ATL and then to SLC, same for the return trip, to save $200 per ticket. Erick is now a paying customer. He also cried most of the flights. The short ones were fine, but the 3 1/2 hour long from GA to UT, and back were nothing but non-stop tears. I think I would have preferred to drive, but I prolly would be saying the same thing about flying if we had driven.

We got to see Temple Square and the Tabernacle as well as the new Conference Center. I got to visit with a good friend, Rachael and her family, and spend a ton of time with family. A week and a half was too long without Adam. I felt like I knew what those women were going through on that wife swap show. Except I wasn't going to receive $50,000 and I had to take my kids.

Got to run... glad to be back in my own bed, home, and state!