Told You So, She is the Queen of the SWINGS!

Happy Birthday Grandma Olsen

Liam tripped in the gravel and lost a shoe.

On the way down

Isla, the queen of the swings. Seriously, she totally dominates.

Momma Goosie protecting her eggs.

Pedro was on the other side of the teeter totter give Elijah the ride of his life.

Grandma with Isla and Paige

Liam was unsure of this toy, so he decided to give his "baby" a ride instead.

Growing up with my Mom as a mom meant I would never be the kid watching Saved by the Bell with rolls of stomach fat weighing me down. The first thing she did when we moved to the farm in West Salem was climb up a towering Maple with limbs like scary mountain highways and build us kids a tree fort. Every unclaimed moment was spent on the fort, or running around as far as the fields and forests allowed, always turning back when confronted with signs of civilization. My mom never held us back, never told us to stay where she could see us. We grew up with a liberated feeling not many of our friends understood, but it was this environment that probably saved us (and saves us still) when things got rough.

She wears sexy high heel shoes to church now, but if you saw her back when I was five and she wore overalls every day, you'd never guess she had it in her. Grandma Olsen is a hottie, but she still has a wild forest fire under her skinny butt. A month ago she decided she wanted to put in some swings and a slide down by the pond, in preparation for Annelisa and Nate's wedding reception. Now, just four Saturdays later, the place looks like a neighborhood park with generous financiers. The day after her birthday we took some of the grandkids down to play. And play they did!

Happy Birthday Mom. I love you. We love you.

There She Goes...

Little Isla is almost 10 months old! She is saying "Momma", "Daaaadaaaa", and waves Hello. When she is proud of herself she will clap. She crawls around on her bum, with a Quasimodo gimp, and is pulling herself to stand up. She is 30 inches long, but we have no idea how much she weighs. I am guessing it is close to the 25 lb. mark? She is a chunk and a half and we are so thoroughly in love with her.

Blabadeeblabadee

I could go on forever!

Little Tulip Isla

Grandma Olsen, a crazed old lady with a fetish for crochet (hi mom!), has been at it again. Her recent work of yarn art is a darling yellow sweater and hat with blue tulip accents. Here are a few pictures of Isla in the hat, Isla with Aunt Shannon, and my Dad's tulips just for fun. I will take more pictures of the entire outfit when she wears it to church next week.

Enjoy the preview.

Isla's New Trick

For Affect

BEFORE

AFTER

The Whole Story

This is the original kitchen. I look at this picture and think "Oh, it actually looks good". But do not be fooled by it's deceptive veneer. The cabinets were falling apart, painted with layers of aged, peeling (most likely lead) paint, the drawer fronts often pulled off the drawers when I went for something as simple as a spoon, and the counter top and back splash were cracking laminate that looked like a smoker's coffee stained teeth. The microwave outlet didn't work and the only other counter top outlet was wired with the bathroom light (ie: bathroom light off, outlet off).

Pretty? Sure. It is only a facade people! Behind this sink was a festering cancer-causing black mold issue that kicked me and the kids out of the house for a week and Billy many, many more hours of labor.

This was the dining room. The doorway to the left led to the kitchen. The north wall is the one we knocked out.

This is the other side of the pre-knocked out wall. I think Billy had ripped off some of the paint, but I hurried in to take a "before" shot. The purpose of the wall-ectomy was to create more open, roomy feel to our old, cloistered house.

Here is the ceiling. Take note of the supporting beam. This beam would eventually cause us (BILLY) many hours of blood, sweat, and tears.

Yes, we're cute (Ang, Steph, Me), but thats not why I'm showing you this picture. Look behind us. See the exposed ceiling and beam, and the makeshift post holding it all up? We lived with this post for awhile, delaying the inevitable, hoping one morning we would wake up and find a new kind of Santa Claus midnight delivery.
It never happened.

When we tore down the wall, and connected the dining room to the kitchen we discovered the two ceilings were at different heights. The dining room was about 3/4 inch lower and the slanted ceiling in front of you shows yet another hiccup in the plan. We had three ceiling sections, all at different heights. Somehow, we had to make all three a flat plane.

s This is the north wall in the kitchen. We tore out the craptacular bead board, and the odd (not cool) built-in book shelf was eventually covered with a 5/8 inch piece of drywall (that I did all by myself, thank you very much). I normally love built-ins and old house character, but this bookshelf had shelves ever 4 or so inches. Nothing decorative or practical could fit into this space, so it ended up being a vertical and very visible junk drawer.

This just shows how we had to live in and operate in this kitchen during the remodel. It was very interesting. I think I did a pretty good job being patient, but I know Billy was amazingly patient with me. I liked to relocate, or hide, his tools during the week. Things always got lost and disheveled and one time he even found an empty birth control pack with all of his "stuff". He wasn't too happy about that!

More "in process" pictures.

I found four boxes of American Olean tile on Craigslist for 20 bucks. I knew we had to pounce of the deal, so we did. Eight hours later we had a tile back splash.
This picture doesn't do what I am trying to show justice. I'll just tell you. About a month ago my Dad, Scott, Ross, and Shannon spent an entire Saturday helping up out. I cannot come close to expressing how grateful I am for their help! My Dad and Billy worked exclusively on the beam and post problem, while Shannon, Ross, and I drywalled an entire room and ceiling. Shannon and I were quite the team. Ross was good too. Scott had a bad broken toe and was the babysitter. He held Isla the whole time and now they are intimate lovers. I think she may love Scott more than the Grandmas (sorry Mom).

Again, crappy picture. But this is new dry wall. Yeah.

OKAY..........


So, here is the new ceiling. Thanks to Billy and my Dad, it looks awesome.


Now, we aren't done yet. We spent the last four days painting the family room, dining room, hallway, kitchen, and all ceilings. Grandpa Bill slaved away for two days, and he and Connie picked the kids and dropped them off on Saturday so we could prostitute our souls to the paint job. Jessica also surprised us and came by to help out. I woke up Saturday morning and saw her standing above my bed, dressed in grungy Saturday attire and a bandanna. I felt like all would be okay and I would survive the chaos. It was a Christmas miracle, as they say.

Our house is a disaster after the past few days, but it is painted! All we have left now is:

1. Sand and stain Kitchen hardwood floors.
2. Put up dining room and kitchen trim.
3. Misc. finish work
4. I think the microwave and disposal need to be wired in, but that only takes a few minutes apparently.
5. Oh yeah, and the upper cabinets need their handles.

I think that is it?? (crossing my fingers)

CUTEST video ever

The other day Liam was running around the house with a eerie pair of swimming goggles that appeared as if from nowhere ( I swear---who brought these to our house??) on his head, shouting gibberish to no one in particular, and I heard him say "I am booper Meemum" or translated: "I am super Liam!". I was in a nasty mood, sweeping drywall dust off the floor for the bagillioneth time, but this moment of Liam funniness tore me right out of my craphole mood and reminded me how blessed I am. The kid is hilarious. He comes up with all sorts of clever games and role plays, and if I wanted to neglect him I could because he is so good at entertaining himself. Not that ignoring my child is what I want to do, or do, I promise, but I am so proud of his burgeoning imagination and grasp on the world. I hope you find this video as cute as I did.

Bathtime Babies

Good thing I have my blog on privacy setting so I can post these! Hooray for no internet perves!

Just Before Church

Here we are Sunday morning at Grandma Nonnie's house. Liam and Isla discovered the Easter Bunny had visited over there as well as the Olsen's. They were spoiled sweetly and proved difficult to photograph. Here are my (well, Uncle John's) attempts.

Easter Egg Hunt at Grandpa Olsen's House

A great BIG thanks to the photographer, cousin Emily.

For Ang

Ang and I both have picky eaters. She requested a list of what he eats in a day, so here Ang, hope this helps!

Breakfast:
Usually a Ziplock baggie (Liam's tote of choice) of assorted cereals, crackers, raisins, and sometimes a few marshmallows to entice the kid.

Snack: We have all-day snack time at our house because A. Liam is anti-meal and B. I prefer to graze continuously as well. It works for our casual attitude we like to keep around here. So here it is, in no particular order. And do not be fooled, he does not eat all of these things every day, and some days refuses each and every one.
-Sippy cup of: Juice, Milk, Choc milk
-Fruit: apple, pear, orange and seasonal fruits like watermelon, strawberries, etc. He usually never says no to fruit.
-Crackers: Preferably cheese, no Teddy Grahams, no Wheat Thins aka Shannon crackers, and maybe Pretzels if I am lucky
-String Cheese
-Jello or Yogurt
-French fries if we are out and about--he NEVER says no to french fries and ketchup
--Every now and then I can get him to eat a few bites of PB &J sandwich or buttered toast. This is rare.

Dinner: I use to make Liam his own tray of lunch meat, tomatoes, other veges, etc. Now I only feed him what I am serving. I break it up in clearly organized piles and do not serve anything with "mixed" food groups such as casseroles or spaghetti. He is seriously turned off by complicated colors, textures, and tastes. He pretty much refuses to eat dinner, but I figure he won't starve and will eventually learn to join the club and enjoy food. For now he is just really hungry when he wakes up. I've been doing this for a couple of weeks and he hasn't passed out from hunger yet, so I'm hoping . . . it works?

MISC: Liam will at any time except candy, chocolate, and Popsicles. Slurpees too. I try to keep this to a minimum, I really do. It is hard though, considering how much junk I eat myself. I really am not a good role model when it comes to this. Whoops.

Easter Pictures--Kind Of

Today Jessica and I took the kids (yes, we like pretending we're an alternative lesbian couple) to Picture People for Easter pictures. After all of the pomp and circumstance of driving, unloading, dressing, and prepping, Isla decided to have a complete breakdown. The "photo shoot", if you will, did not last more than 3 minutes and 5 shots. The photographer, bless her heart, tried her best. The pictures are cute, but not as cute as they could have been with some momma milk and a nap. Next time I will plan better! For what its worth, here are the photos with a nice printed "ZAZZLE" .

ABCs Take Two

Travelzoo Top 20

Click here and sign up for the greatest weekly travel deals. Trust me, you'll love it and use it and thank me for it!

Liam Debut of "I am a Child of God"

Sweet Message

The president of my church, my prophet, Gordon B. Hinckley passed away about a month ago. Here is what he says the focus of our faith should be:

"We know not all that lies ahead of us. We live in a world of uncertainty. For some, there will be great accomplishment. For others, disappointment. For some, much of rejoicing and gladness, good health, and gracious living. For others, perhaps sickness and a measure of sorrow. We do not know. But one thing we do know. Like the Polar Star in the heavens, regardless of what the future holds, there stands the Redeemer of the world, the Son of God, certain and sure as the anchor of our immortal lives. He is the rock of our salvation, our strength, our comfort, the very focus of our faith.

In sunshine and in shadow we look to Him, and He is there to assure and smile upon us."

Gordon B. Hinckley

This is just so sweet, I had to share it.

Here is my favorite scripture:

"23 For we labor diligently to write, to ^apersuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by ^bgrace that we are saved, after all we can ^cdo . . . .

26 And we ^atalk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we ^bprophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our ^cchildren may know to what source they may look for a ^dremission of their sins.

2 Nephi 25: 23 and 26, The Book of Mormon

I love you guys :)

Quick Liam Anecdotes

1. The computer is in the room next to Liam's. He goes to sleep with the door open while I sit and do my thing. Every couple of minutes he says "Mommy on Pooter?" and I say "Yes, Liam, close your eyes and go to sleep." This goes on for 10 minutes or so before he finally falls asleep.

Tonight, however, he is really hanging on. I can hear him fidgeting, and singing songs to himself. Just a little bit ago he started to whine, then cry, and begging to get out of his bed. Finally, he called out to me. "Momma!"
"Yes, Liam?"
"Dis is not a good idea."

For some reason, that really made me laugh.

2. Earlier today I laid Isla down for her nap on my bed. As I was walking out the door, she woke up. So... I spent about 5 minutes in my room putting her back to bed. Liam was out and about, doing his own thing. Usually this means making a huge mess, which is okay, because it stimulates his brain and he is entertained. However, today I walked out of my room and saw him sitting on the ground with a REALLY guilty look on his face. He looked straight at me and said "I don't know what I'm doing."
"Liam . . . what are you doing?" The only thing I could possibly say.
"I don't know..."
I looked around him. I noticed my Clorox hard surface cleaner and a sippy cup.
"Dis taste gross." He said, pointing to the cleaner.
YEAH.
Turns out Liam dumped some of it into a sippy cup, put the lid back on, and took a swig. When I asked him if he drank a little bit or a lot he said "A WATT. Dis much" and demonstrated a cupful with his hands.
I know, it serves me right for leaving an almost three-year-old to roam. The poison control center wasn't worried, thank goodness, but still! The kid is crazy.

3. Another ongoing anecdote: Liam's new phrase is "Mommy, talk about it!". He asks me questions all day long. "Momma, where is Costco?" "Mommy, why not I have ice cream?" "Mommy, Why is Bob a boy?" and when I only provide a should-be sufficient one sentence answer he loudly begs "No, Mommy, TALK ABOUT IT." I then basically elaborate and expand as much as sanely possible, hoping to satisfy his curiosity. This behavior reminds me of my little sister Annelisa, but that was when she was about nine or so. Annelisa, do you remember that?

Anyhow, he is darling. I love the little guy. Hope you enjoy.

Happy Love Day

Five years ago today Billy asked me to marry him under a bright, Mexican moon. He made me stand up in the sand so he could look up at me from his loving, kneeling position. I couldn't bear to be so far away from him (what is it, like two feet?), so I only stood during the official, life altering question. We sat on the beach for the rest of the night, talking and crying. Well, he talked and I cried.

Now five years, two kids, and one heck of a train ride later, we're still here and hanging. It is fun having him here. My life is full of a lot of hugs and kisses and a punch every now and then. I would say it is me doing the punching, but I am pretty sure you all know that already.

So, our Valentine's Day tradition around here is one dessert worth making. Trust me on this. Charlotte introduced the recipe to me, so I give her credit for years of Cherry Berries on a Cloud and thousands of calorie intake.

Go to the link, print the recipe, and make it*. YOU WILL REGRET IT IF YOU DON'T. It is on the Heaven entrance exam. Charlotte told me.

In case you can't tell, it is in the shape of a heart.

*You must bake it on a paper bag. That is KEY.

Update

Firstly: In response to Ang: yes, we are still alive.

Two weeks ago we hosted my yummy friend from Utah, Miss Morgan, and it was an enormous privilege. The kids and I took her to two of our favorite Portland restaurants, St. Cupcake and Elephants Deli. Billy and I took her on a date to see Juno. As a family we all went to the coast and spent the night at my parent's beach house. I tried my best to feed her well with my "famous" (har har har) clam chowder and chili. They are actually my mom's famous recipes but Morgan doesn't know that so shhhhh.... It was wonderful having her here and Liam now calls "The Book of Mormon" the "Book of Morgan" which is sure to get a laugh in nursery.

Last week Billy went to Utah for his cousin's wedding, and then traveled south to Las Vegas for a business trip. I didn't like the idea of spending five full days at home without him to entertain me, so I decided to take the kids to Gramma and Bampa Osnin's for a long weekend. Not much to report there. It was fun and comfortable to be with my parent's and siblings (hi Shannon! your sweatshirt is on Annelisa's bed), and I am always happy to spend time with them.

Liam finally admits that he is a "big boy." He is potty trained, falls asleep by himself in his own room at a consistent bedtime (8 pm), and refuses to nap. His language is now sophisticated enough to allow us a clearer glimpse into his thoughts, and it is truly a spunky combination of Billy's genes and mine. He likes to tease me by calling me a boy, or "Daddy", and the worst: that I am not his best friend. He thinks it is so funny and will laugh all by himself while I fake a cry. Yesterday he told me he wanted a new mommy, because I was old. When I vehemently denied the accusation he said "no Mom, see, you have a mode", and pointed to the mole on my neck. Today he told me he and Daddy had peepees, but that I had two butts. He thought that was funny too.

Isla is growing, of course. She was 20 lbs 6 oz. at her six month checkup a month ago. Her hair is turning lightish brown and is growing along with her body. The old ladies at church like to comment on her cute ponytails, her big blue eyes, her outfits, etc. Isla clearly loves the admiration and coos the whole time. She is a big fan of her Daddy, and I am not just saying that because I am suppose to. She truthfully adores him. As he does her. When dating Billy I remember thinking he would be a sweet dad to a daughter, and it is so squishy to see it come to fruition.

I am currently obsessing over my sewing projects and reading. Nothing else really exists (except family time) as far as I am concerned. I may post some pictures of a few dresses if I can remember.

I love you all! I check all of your blogs all of the time. Sorry I do not always leave comments...