The Olsen Update

(My Birthday Lunch MMMMmmmmm...) I hate my birthday and it's pretty evident. Today I thought I would treat myself to a Chicken Pizziola from Subway. It was my favorite sandwich for years till the moved it from the menu. Well, the sandwich artist over herd Alana talking about my birthday and could see that I was down. He began talking to me and trying to cheer me up. I then ordered three cookies to take home and hopefully drown in my fat filled sorrow. What happened next is why I am doing the "Pay It Forward" Project... The young man who was serving me told me that the cookie were on him and that he hopes that it would turn my "Frown Upside Down". That little act made my day! SO PLEASE READ the "Pay It Forward" post from a few days ago! If you would like a surprise from me, don't be shy and post that you would like me to send you something. And don't forget to do something good today!

(This is an awesome birthday cake...Better than the cake that I'm getting this year...The left over sheet cake from Alana's birthday party last week. So I'm just going to pretend this is my cake. LOL!) Yes I sad CURSE. Something always happens on my birthday. A death of a family member last year was the hardest. But this year, everyone in my house is sick. This sucks! I have two whinny babies, with runny noses and all I can think about is how I want to wrap up in my favorite blanket and sleep. Alana is driving me crazy! UUuuuuggggg! I swear. Can I do like other religions and just forget I was ever born? Then maybe I would not go through this. So any ways... Happy Birthday to me!

Today I talked with Christine Fanders the Child Care Manager at Clear Creek High about getting Alana on the waiting list for "Trooper School". Trooper School is a preschool program that is run by students at the High school who have a strong interest in child development and teaching. The kids go to preschool 3 days a week for a few hours a day and have a fully structured school day to prepare them for kindergarten. As of right now Alana is 25th on the list for 2009 and Ariana is 18th for 2011. Yes, I'm already thinking about preschool for Ariana. How can you beet it? Its down the street from us and It's dirt cheep. We have several friends that have sent their kids there and loved it. So lets pray that when March rolls around and the slots for 2009 open up, Alana will have one of them.

...since I've done any portraits of my girls. So today I put Alana and Ariana in the adorable outfits that GG-Ma sent and headed out to do a quick shoot. It was chilly out and I didn't think to put the girls in shoes have any of them together. I don't because I hate shoes in pictures. So we get there... with Tina (the kitten) mind you, and the first thing Alana says is... "I'm Cold". UUUUuugggghhh! So I put her in her sandals (not much help) and went to work. Alana really wanted a picture with "Miss Tina" but it was just not possible. I got one or two shots but she wanted to get back in the purse that she sleeps in. Poor thing was puffed up trying to keep warm. So, on with the pictures. Ariana, who normally is my ham when she sees the camera was not feeling it today. She didn't know what the cold ground was all about. So, I was lucky to get anything out of anybody. When all is said and done, I was able to get what I set out for. So ...

There are so many things happening in this world today. Life is nuts! Well, one of my oldest friends (Kim...not saying you're old, 'cause I'm older than you as of this Thursday) invited me to join her in "Pay It Forward". The premise is the very simple act of just doing someone a favor without expecting anything in return, and if you would just "pay it forward" by returning the act of kindness and generosity, then it might be possible for a global outpouring of decency toward all mankind. Here are the rules: I will send a gift (of my choosing) to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this "PIF" exchange, and who make the same pledge on their own blog. The only thing you have to do in return is PAY IT FORWARD - on your own blog. So, if you want to get a goodies from me, and are willing to do the same via your blog, let me know! (Note that you'll need to give me your real (snail mail) address... which you can...

Hurricane Ike delayed Alana's birthday party by a month, but it finally happened. Wooooo Hoooo. And boy am I glad it's over. I killed me to explain to her that her party was coming everyday. We had a fun time decorating hats, eating and letting the kiddos run free at the park. I got dark early, so we had to cut things short, which was fine. Alana had a great time and got lots of fun gifts. I made the cake yet again. (That's it in the pictures) It was not bad for being a 3d cake with home-made fondant. I defiantly know what to do next time. Now that its all over Alana is singing the birthday song to me daily. Oh yeah... now it's my turn. Can we skip it this year? That would be great!

Last Saturday we packed up the girls and headed out to Dewberry farms with a bunch of our friends. They had some fun things to do but it seemed like they nickeled and dimed you for everything. They have a pumpkin patch, hay rides, flower picking, and lots of little things for the kids to do. We couldn't have asked for better weather. Oh yeah. And the Pit Beef Sandwich reminded me of going to the fair as a kid. All that was missing was a HUGE cinnamon roll, a car show and the smell of alfalfa. Nothing beats Bakersfield at fair time. LOL! (Grandma will laugh at that one.) Over all we had a good time, with the exception of Chris who hated the place.

(money prop from one of the dances) Has it been a year already? I can't believe its been a year since we went to last seasons "So You Think You Can Dance" tour. This year we dropped the girls off at the Kerby's house and headed into Houston. We had Jack In The Box for dinner and then went to the show at Reliant Arena.We had a blast. They performed all our favorite dances and provided comedic relief during costume changes.I took a tone of pictures... As usual. (Gev and Courtney) (Bollywood Dance) (Twitch) Something different this year is that we had the opportunity to go backstage for photo-opps and autographs. It was kind of weird hanging out with all the hormonal sex crazed teens and tweens that were un-patiently waiting for sweaty young men and sassy girl idols to come out the door. All in all I had a great time, we met the entire cast and had photos taken with each. Oh yeah... and flattery helps.... Thanks Comfort, Twitch and Josh! I was put on the "Hot Tamale...

...I don't want to be to blame. Just a few minutes ago I found this. Yes, thats Ariana eating cat food. This is not the first time either. We caught her doing it yesterday too. I guess she likes the taste of cat chow. I went to give her a kiss on the cheek after she had eaten the crunchy goodness and I thought I was kissing one of my cats. Ewwwww. Lets just say I had it coming form me for all the strange things I ate as a kid.

Hello all... I'm working on a HUGE care package to send to my brother (Airman 1st Class Christopher DeMario) and the troops in Iraq. What I need from you is to send either money or items that you would like to donate to my home where I will then send them to the proper location. ~Some things I'm in need of for this project~ 1. Money... for shipping and to buy items 2. stockings. The cheep one dollar ones are fine. 3. Hand sanitizer. That is their biggest request. 4. Packaged cookies and candies. Please no homemade. It will take almost a month to get to Iraq and they will be bad by the time they get there. 5. Christmas cards and letters to misc. troops. Please thank them for what they do. 6. gum 7.International calling cards. 8. Stamps 9. blank cards or paper and envelopes Anything that you can think of really. But I want to help give these young men and women the comforts of home while serving this great country. They are sacrificing so much for us. It's the least we can...

Drum Roll PLEASE........(scroll down) David Dickamore of the League City Ward! Yeah for you! Click here for larger view. I'm real excited that we can have this exposure of what we're doing here. I feel so fortunate to be a part of it. I will find out soon when it will be published

(money prop from one of the dances) Has it been a year already? I can't believe its been a year since we went to last seasons "So You Think You Can Dance" tour. This year we dropped the girls off at the Kerby's house and headed into Houston. We had Jack In The Box for dinner and then went to the show at Reliant Arena.We had a blast. They performed all our favorite dances and provided comedic relief during costume changes.I took a tone of pictures... As usual. (Gev and Courtney) (Bollywood Dance) (Twitch) Something different this year is that we had the opportunity to go backstage for photo-opps and autographs. It was kind of weird hanging out with all the hormonal sex crazed teens and tweens that were un-patiently waiting for sweaty young men and sassy girl idols to come out the door. All in all I had a great time, we met the entire cast and had photos taken with each. Oh yeah... and flattery helps.... Thanks Comfort, Twitch and Josh! I was put on the "Ho...

The Church magazines Ensign and Liahona are wanting to use one or two of the pictures I've taken in the last few weeks with the "Mormon Helping Hands." I'm in the process of uploading pictures from Galveston and the League City Area. So if you were with me on either of those days you could be in the Ensign. So yeah for you! Updates to come.

Saturday Chris and I drooped the girls off at a friends house at the crack of dawn. Then we headed out with another crew from church to Galveston. ( In the gym were we get our shirts. The light was running off a generator.) They still didn't have power at the Church down there so some of the pictures I took in the gym are creepy. After our first location they had the lights on and were listening to General Conference. It was a welcomed change. ( a fun self portrait that of Meg and I) I was so glad my friend Megan was on my team. She and I are... well... childish together. More like teenagers. I don't know why we are that way but it sure is fun. One game we like to play is "What Face am I Making?". When you have your have mask on you make a face and the other person has to guess. Megan always sticker her tung out, so I guessed right. The first house we went nobody was home. So we called them and it took about an hour and twenty minutes to get there from the medi...

"Thursday, October 02, 2008 playin in the sand box. The sand box is so much fun to play in cause there is so much sand just blowing around. on top of that doing it with 2 weapons that get dirty extremely easy. I love it. It is the best thing to ever happen to me I wish I could do it more often. spending time away from the wife and the rest of the family and spending a lot of "quality time" with a bunch of guys. this is exactly what I signed up for. It is so depressing out here but like I always say any day that I have air in my lungs and blood flowin through my veins is a beautiful day. for those people that don't support the militay should try living out here away from the realworld for 6 months and then tell me that they don't support the mi...