April 2015

April was all about two things, Easter and ladybugs. So let's get right to it.

Easter

We were invited to a fun Easter egg hunt with friends the Friday before Easter. The kids had a blast and of course ate all their candy before we even made it to the car. 

Easter Sunday also fell on general conference Sunday so we spent the morning watching conference and searching for Easter baskets. The Easter bunny mistakenly included giant blow pops in the Easter baskets so the rest of the morning was spent trying to wipe up red blow pop from the furniture and Foster's face. Next year the Easter bunny will know better. 

In the afternoon we headed over to Mi Ani's house for another Easter egg hunt and dinner. It was a really lovely day spent with family. 

Ladybugs

So we decided to study ladybugs in joyschool this month. We even had ladybug eggs shipped to us and we grew about a dozen of our very own ladybugs. We learned all about the four stages of the ladybug life cycle and when they were ready, we released them into the garden so they could feast on all of the aphids. It was so fun to watch all the kids get into it, especially James and Foster who woke up every morning to check the status of our ladybugs. We were a little bit sad when we released our last ladybug. But even now the boys get so excited when they see one out on our walks that I think we instilled a lifelong love for the ladybug. 

Our ladybug lesson also inspired me to write a new story called The Little Blue Slug. It may be my favorite story yet. 

Going on a ladybug hunt

Releasing the last ladybug into the garden.

Other great April moments:

We went on a beautiful hike this month. And although it was especially hot that day, we took some photos that pretty much capture what heaven will be like for me. 

March 2015

March was a wonderful month.  We purchased a trampoline in February and it has gotten a lot of use this month.  If the boys aren't in the house, they are on the trampoline!  And it is a lifesaver during joy school, so basically the trampoline is the new babysitter around here and I'm not ashamed to admit it.
We managed to visit Disneyland this month because, why wouldn't we?  We also started our spring garden and did some spring cleaning too.  Is spring cleaning, blog worthy?  The answer is yes, yes it is.
James started swim lessons that will last 12 weeks so I'm hoping at the end of THREE MONTHS, he'll be able to swim.  Did I mention that he has swim lessons for three months at the most inconvenient time of day?  Oh who set the time you ask? Me.
But most of March was spent playing with friends, hanging at our pool and spending time with family.  All of our favorite things.

Disneyland

I knew that having passes this year would be a blast because Foster is at the age where he is really starting to enjoy it and James, well he's obsessed.  Last year we spent most of our time in Cars Land with Lightening McQueen but this year Cars Land is kid's stuff.  The second we get to Disneyland we head straight to Tomorrowland.  And if it were left up to James we would never leave.  Between Star Tours, Buzz Lightyear and Jedi Training School, there is a lot to entertain my boys.  A fun fact about Tomorrowland, all of the plants are edible.  They have peppers, lettuce, grapefruit trees etc.  This is why I like Tomorrowland.  And no, I've never picked anything.

For my sister and I, it is all about the treats.  From ice cream at Clarabella's in California Adventure to sour gummy candy, we take our treats seriously.  And sometimes all I want at Disney is a churro and an ice-filled cup of Diet Coke.  I'm getting hungry/thirsty just thinking about it.  For Scott, it's all about the Dole Whip, which when we can handle the extreme line length, we get one.  I could really go on and on about just the treats but it might start to get weird. Should I keep going? No? Yes?  Okay, I'll move on.

Basically, every visit we make to Disney is magical, as it should be.  These memories we are making are some of my most favorite. 

Around the House

We were able to purchase a new kitchen table this month which means we can actually have people over for dinner and everyone has a chair.  It was a great Craigslist find and I'm loving our new table for six.  I was however sad to see the old one go.  We had it for seven years and there were a lot of good memories around that table.  Luckily, I was able to sell it to a friend so it found a good home.

Scott planted our summer garden this month with the help of Foster and James.  Foster is the little helper around the house.  Sometimes what he thinks is helping is actually digging up the plants we just planted but he means well....right?  It has been great to be outdoors working in the yard with the boys.  We give them little chores to do and we all work alongside each other.  It's my favorite thing.

This year I plan on spending many of our days at the community pool which is right up the path from where we live.  The past few times that we have been there it has been completely empty.  I lay on a lounger while the boys swim in the pool.  It makes for an easy and relaxing afternoon.  The hardest part is getting the boys to leave the pool.  It takes bribing and popsicles are my bribe of choice.  I think back to all those parenting books I read before I had my first baby and never looked at again.  They all said that you shouldn't bribe your children to get them to do what you want.  Here's an idea, bribe your children because then they will do what you want.  I feel like a genius. Okay, enough of "easy way out parenting".  It's my next book.

February 2015

Okay, sadly I don't have much to report on February.  It was a month full of normal days doing normal things, which was the best part of February.  We took the boys on a lot of adventure walks, had some family parties and celebrated Valentine's Day.

Adventure Walks

We are lucky to live by so many horse trails.  They lead from our community to my parents community and there are so many different routes to choose from.  It's become one of our favorite things to let the boys run around in the horse trails, finding sticks and rocks.  We take our time and by the end of the walk, the morning is gone and the boys are worn out.  We also feed two horses along our way, Harley and Brandi.  The boys don't always like to feed them because they drool...the horses that is.  But you know me, I can't help myself, horse drool or not.  On one of our walks, Scott found a rope swing.  It is a little worn out so Scott is going to fix it up so the neighborhood kids can use it again.  I'll post pics once that is done.

James with his joy school friends on an adventure walk!

Family Parties
Stan, Monika, Chloe, Brett, Connor, Isabelle, and Ian came for a visit in February.  It was great to finally meet Brett and to celebrate the February birthdays.  We had parties planned all weekend except the boys got sick and we had to miss out on some of them.  Alas, life with kids.  But we had a great time seeing the family, and as always, we wish they lived here!

You Rock!

Valentine's Day
We didn't too much to celebrate Valentine's Day this year because we had a family party planned for that night.  We got the boys Star Wars boxes of chocolates and Valentine's crafts were made.  Other than that, it was kind of like a normal day.  But Scott and I have been so lucky lately because Tess babysits for us almost every Saturday night.  So we have been able to put date nights back on the weekly schedule.  It has been so nice! 

Celebrated Valentine's morning by getting donuts and yes, going for a walk on the horse trail.

Mi Ani taught me how to make french macaroons which were a delicious Valentine treat!

So that's it.  Just like February, this post is short and sweet.

January 2015

The start of the new year is always good and this January was no exception.  One of my best friends, Meridith, was married on January 2nd.  Such a happy day!  We celebrated James' 4th birthday, my baby is really growing up. And lots of readings of "James the Brave".  For a long month, it went really quickly and 2015 is off to an amazing start.

Meridith Sebra and Brandon Slade Get Married!

The two of them were married in the Los Angeles temple and it was an incredible experience to be there.  Meridith looked so beautiful and happy and it was a true testament that the Lord knows what He is doing.  It was always such a mystery that Meridith was single.  She is beautiful, accomplished, fun and a caretaker.  It turns out she really was just waiting for the right person and she found him.  I am so incredibly happy for her.  After the sealing, Scott and I went to dinner with friends and then went to the reception and Smog Shop.  So fun to see so many friends that I had not seen in awhile.  We always have such a good time when we are together.  Basically it was a great night celebrating a person we all love so much!

James turns 4!!!!

We celebrated James' birthday at Disneyland....again.  This is turning out to be a tradition, a very expensive tradition!  James discovered Star Tours this trip and could not get enough.  His obsession to all things star wars definitely heightened after our Disneyland trip.  James is in what I like to call his "robot phase".  He acts like a robot, thinks like a robot and talks about robots, robots, robots!

Foster had a great time at Disneyland too.  The highlight for him was the parade and the lollipops.  My kids have become very predictable but as different as can be.  It's so much fun to see their relationship grow as Foster gets older and James becomes more of a "big brother".  These two really love each other and I'm so lucky to be their mom.

At the end of the night, we bought James a chocolate cupcake, sang Happy Birthday and headed home.  It was a great way to celebrate our little James.  He has grown up so much this past year.  As he gets older he gets so much more comfortable with social situations and is thriving in joy school.  He even likes going to sunbeams and gets up and sings with the rest of his class.  He says the prayer every  night at dinner and loves having family night.  What he loves the most is being home with his family, watching a movie and eating popcorn.

Here are some stats on James:
His best buddies: Hudson, Anna, Leah and Berkley
Favorite food: chocolate milk, he loves anything chocolate
Favorite show:  Rescue Bots, Anything superhero
Favorite toy:  transformers and robots
My favorite quote by James:  He asked if he could get an Iron Man toy and I replied that we had to wait until a special occasion.  He thought about it for a minute and said "where do humans buy these toys?"  I reminded him that he is indeed a human and not a robot.  Something I've had to remind him of a couple of times!

Here are some great pics of James from last year:

 

"James the Brave"

This month I committed to reading "James the Brave" to schools around the county.  It has been so fun to see the kid's reactions to the book firsthand.  I've also been able to donate a book to each school.  I love the idea that all of those school libraries will have a copy of "James the Brave"!  I was even able to donate a book to Painted Rock Elementary, my old school and the school the boys will attend one day.  Selling 1,000 book takes a lot of work but I am really loving it.  It's been a chance for me to step out of my comfort zone and try something new.  Always a good thing!  

December 2014

December, as always was packed full of fun for the Olsons. This year, to make the month extra special, we threw in a "James the Brave" launch party. So between the party and covering all of our annual traditions, it was a BUSY month!

"James the Brave" Launch Party

A lot of time and energy went into planning this party. Sometimes I think it took longer to plan this party than write the book! No seriously. But it was an amazing day and the support I felt was incredible. We had cookies and milk, crafts for the kids and I did a reading. Of course I cried during my reading. I knew I would not be able to keep it together. It was a very surreal moment, reading my book to people I love so much. I felt pretty overwhelmed with gratitude for the gift of being able to persue a dream. The cheese ends here, I promise. Maybe.

Signing Books for my peeps

"James the Brave" Decor

Cookie and Candy Table

Crafts Underway

I made Scott in charge of the craft table and he fulfilled his post with dignity and precision.

The reading, before the tears.

I was so happy to see so many faces that I love!

James and James

Christmas and its many traditions:

We have so many things we like to do in December that the month can become swamped very quickly. What I loved about this year, was that we were able to do all of our traditions and still manage to spend a lot of time at home next to the fire and our Christmas tree. It was absolutely perfect. 

The boys all bundled up on our way to Candy Cane Lane.  I know I'm going to sound like a wimp  but it was freezing! 

I think Scott should aim for something like this in our yard next year!

Gingerbread house decorating.  More of this candy ended up in Foster's mouth than the house.

Isn't this picture just the cutest thing?  I love it.

This was Sunday before Christmas with all of us dressed in our Christmas best.

Scott had two weeks off during Christmas, which was a dream.  We spend one of those days exploring the zoo.

On Christmas Eve, I sent the boys to the park, turned on Christmas music and made more batches of cinnamon rolls than I can remember.  It was heaven.

The goodies Santa left behind.  Foster scored: a dyson vacuum, ugg boots, a tool set, coloring book and lots of treats.  James scored: one darth vader mask, lego superheroes, legos, ugg boots and some serious candy.  

Grandma and Pop Pop Olson sent the boys this racetrack which they stared at for long periods of time.  I felt like it was actually a gift to me.

Christmas night, after spending the day with family, we popped some popcorn and watched The Snowman .   Spoiler alert: it has a sad ending.  James may have cried.  But it's all in the spirit of Christmas right?  It was so nice to end the special day with just our little family.  Makes me shed a tear just thinking about.  Why is Christmas over!!!!

The day after Christmas we headed downtown to the Wyndham (we know a guy) and had an amazing view of the balloon parade on the harbor.  Did I mention we were in the Governor's suite?  We are pretty fancy.  Lots of food and drinks and the best part, the entire family was there.  That doesn't always happen but when it does, it's my favorite.

The new Nielsen Christmas Tradition, a family football game.  I'm not going to lie, I did not excel here.  But watching my brothers get crazy competitive and my mom yelling plays from the sidelines, was pretty priceless.

All in all, I would say this was our best Christmas yet.  It was hard to say goodbye to Christmas and take down all the decorations.  But now that they're put away, we are looking forward to 2015.  If it is anything like 2014 than it is going to be amazing.  Sometimes I can't even put into words how grateful I am for the gifts I've received. It seems impossible to count all of my blessings.  But my greatest blessings I can count.  There are three.  And they are all asleep in this house as I type this post.  And if you're reading this, you're probably one of my blessings too.