The Olsen Update

Today the weather was perfect for our BIG play group craft day at our house. I'm not sure how many kids we ended up with but it was sure a blast. The kiddos painted Egg carton Cooties and ran like mad in the back yard. I'm starting to worry about Alana. She likes to sit alone while at parties. Is she just over stimulated? I don't know. Guess that means I need to socialize her more. So anyone up for a play date?

This morning Alana and I decided it would be fun to have a picnic in the backyard under the tent. Still in our PJ's, we headed outside to get everything all set up. Alana told me she was going to get something from inside and the next thing I know Alana had tripped over her own feet and smacked her head into the brick stoop. It didn't look like she hit it hard but she cried anyways. She then ran into the house screaming and I fallowed behind her. She turned to see that I was coming and thats when I saw that it was much worse. Low and behold there was a 3/4 inch gash in her beautiful forehead and blood was running down her face. Then having flash backs from only three weeks ago I scooped her up and carried her off to the bathroom to clean her up. This time there was no way I was going to take her to the ER. So I put pressure on it with a cloth and waited for some of the bleeding to stop. (Alana asked me to take a picture to show daddy how strong she was. As you can see, she w...

Last night I threw a surprise birthday/ congrats on your masters party for Chris at Buffalo Wild Wings. I must say it was very easy to pull off. We go there for "Happy Hour" with co-workers once a month. So I called out one of they guys on Monday and asked him to get all the guys in on it. Cake! I got Chris a Tweed Leather Patch Elbow Jacket! He's been joking that he really wanted one to wear with a geek tee and a pair of jeans (like Sheldon from "Big Bang Theory"). As you can see, he was pretty stoked! Alana had a good time as always. She loves our friends and is entertained easily. If you can't read it, the cake says "Happy Birthday MASTER Chris." Now hows that for a double whammy?

A few weeks ago I transitioned Ariana from bottles to sippie cups with ease. Today was her last one with formula. Mainly because I just made the last bottle. I've been pretty lucky with these kind of things with the girls. Bottles and formula have not been a problem. Alana was great when I put her in a toddler bed at one too. Both girls figured out how to get the gate down at about eleven months, thus being the reasoning for the crib to toddler bed so early. I did it on Alana's first birthday, but I think it will be Saturday for Ariana Because her birthday is next Monday. I can't believe how quick time has flown.

This will teach me to pay attention to movies. Alana and I were watching The Little Mermaid today while I was cleaning the play room. Then the musical performance scene came on and I started singing along. Thats when the sisters gave their names and I about lost it. I immediately hit rewind to verify what I had herd. Yep, That's right. Alana is the sister just older than Ariel. I've seen the movie, what? A billion times? And I never noticed that "Alana" was one of the sisters. It was cute however, when Alana herd it. She looked at me and said... "Mommy... I'm a mermaid like Areal? Wooo Hoooo. See, I don't need swim lessons." We'll just see about that come spring.

The girls enjoyed being out side their twenty mile radius for a change. They sat very well while Chris was giving the presentation. Ariana wanted to walk around a lot so I had to take her in the hall a few times. Outside of that, both girls were very well behaved. Alana singing at the Rice statue. Ariana kept busy by dropping things on the floor. I LOVE this shot of Alana. She looks so angelic! If anyone has a desk like this, I would gladly buy it off of you. More to come!

It's official! Chris has his Masters degree and I couldn't be prouder. My food bribe worked well ... Er...his defense went well and the panel was not as hard on him as first suspected. The best part of the day for him was passing his PHD Candidacy Exam. For the next year or so, Chris will be gathering the information for his PHD. Then we will do this all over again. Ugg. I'm real excited to have Chris back even if it's only for a few months. I'll post more pictures from the day later.

Right now I'm getting the food trays ready in preparation for Chris' defense. Sadly I think I'm more nervous than he is. We have all sacrificed so much to get to this point. For me it's my husband. I don't see him much because he's always got he head in a book or he's off studying / working. The girls miss their Daddy terribly and pore Bubs has resorted to a nest of blankets that I made for him to cuddle with. But today is what I hope will close this chapter of our lives. The next being his PHD will be challenging as well but not as much in my mind. Only time will tell. So with that said, keep Chris in your thoughts today and I'll post about what happens later.

If you're a Mom who needs a break from the kids and love free stuff, you need to check out this post!

Normally I try my best to not post pictures till it's closer to their birthdays but I couldn't help myself this time. She's just too cute. The cake was good I guess. She loved every little crumb of it. Here is what it looked like before... And now for the debris field. Time for clean up. Yes, the water is PINK! That kind of gives you an idea of how much pink frosting was on the little bugger. All in all she was happy to smash a cake and she was so tired after the event that she fell asleep at lunch. Oh the memories.

I'm so excited! An email was sent to me that one of my FAVORITE Blogs "Pieces of the Picture" was featuring me as the Photo of the week. I've been so fortunate to be able to do what I love and now be published several times. I'm grateful for the support and love of my family and Photog Friends. FUN FUN FUN!

I'm waiting for the day that I get hired to shoot one of these weddings. Heck... I would pay to be a part of it! (J/K) These people are awesome. Camo wedding dress... Check, Riding in on a horse... Check Crazy Buck Head wedding cake... Check ...Check and Check! This show is everything I would have wanted in a wedding if I didn't get married in the temple. Mud bogging is a must! LOL Here is a clip from one of the episodes.

Nitro Circus is awesome and this is why... Ok... So I'm a red neck from a farming community in California. This show rocks! Stay tuned for another one of my favorite shows.

I just want to tell everyone how much I love my family. The girls are spunky and keep me on my toes. Where Chris is the gravity that keeps my feet on the ground. I'm grateful to have such a fun and loving family. They are beautiful in every way.

There is a light at the end of the tunnel... Chris will be defending his theses a week from today. I couldn't be happier. I can tell he's getting very nervous about it so please give him nothing but positive reinforcement. He can use all the help he can get. So now it looks like I've got to come up with the customary "Sweet Food Bribe" for his panel. Nothing like a bunch of physicists with happy tummies! With that and my happy dance, I leave you with a comic strip.

You know when the first counselor approaches you at church you're either giving a talk or getting a new calling. In my case it's a new calling. Yep... I'm the "WARD PHOTOGRAPHER". So now it on to the mad rush to photograph every member in our ward before the second coming. LOL! This WILL be an adventure!

Alana was so proud of her work she had to show it off!

We went home to have lunch after another exciting day at the library and gymnastics. I then made lunch for the girls and left to powder my nose (bathroom). I cam back to find Alana screaming the bathroom leaving a trail of blood behind me. I was able to gather through the uncontrollable screams that she had cut her finger on a can of corn that I had left out on the table. I guess she bloody murder and bleeding all over my white carpet. No I was not worried about the carpet. I can replace it. I can't replace Alana. Anyways, I picked her up and carried her trough the house and into wanted some and was trying to lift the lid, thus slicing the skin on pad of her finger and kind of peeling her finger like a banana. I was able to wash it out and... While holding pressure to the finger mind you...find a cotton ball and a band aid to try to stop the bleeding while I call Joe and Pauline for backup. They came and looked at it and recommended I take her to the Dr. So I loaded the girl...

Today the girls and I took advantage of the free Grand Slams at Denny's. We pulled up only to find people waiting on the lawn outside. We went in and were told it was an hour wait. I was fine with that ... Really. I'm getting free food. I'm willing to wait. So we make a little corner of the grass ours and let the girls free. Ariana still hadn't finished her bottle so she was pretty well contained. Alana on the other hand was everywhere. We waited for only a half an hour before they called our name. I was shocked! We sat down and they asked if I wanted two grand slams and of course I said yes. This is where Ariana starts getting crazy. She even carved "I want my pancakes!" into the table with her baby spoon. Just kidding. But she was banging on it and signing eat. Alana found ways to entertain herself. It's amazing what a spoon will do for a kid. First she tried balancing it on her nose. She had problems getting that to work so she tried her ch...

Y'all are lucky I have a good sense of humor! This morning I got the girls dressed, put them in the car and went out to do my errands. When I got to my location I piled the girls in a shopping card turned around to make sure the car was locked and found this... "Re-Elect Carter Vote Obama" At first I was puzzled and walked into the store. I then began to think... "Ooooo... I hope thats not a sticker" and "I'm so going to beat up Jed." I then got even madder thinking who in their right mind would put a bumper sticker on someones car. I was so unfocused on what I was shopping for I just dropped everything and headed back to the car. I was then able to verify that it was in fact a magnet- (phew) and proceeded to call Chris to tell him the news. He said that he had seen it on my car after church and thought it was something I came up with and put it on the car. To think I was that mean. Sheesh. So now the investigations start. I think I've wat...

The girls both had colds this weekend. So naturally they both sat in their favorite chairs with blankets and a fun movie. Saturday it got very quiet, for me that means they are either asleep or getting into trouble. From the looks of this picture it was Alana getting into trouble and Ariana enjoying her sisters creativity when lacking paper. BTW, Thats a whole sheet of stickers on her. They go down her legs too!