Catching Up!

AH! It's been so long since I've posted! Life has been chaotic as usual around here. We are now trying to get back into the swing of things though! I will try and catch you up briefly here on what's been going on in the Olson household! So here it goes!

L turned 4! We've had 3 parties for him and his sister! We are partied out for now! Iron Man, Spiderman, and hunting were the themes!

Salsa, applesauce, pears, Awanas, friends, Mommy/Daughter date, starting school, family and friend visits, boating, and lots of fun! That's few more highlights from our summer!

For S's birthday we spent the day in Chicago and went to the American Girl Doll Store! She got to bring her friend and her mom (who happens to be my bestie!) and her Nanas and Aunts! It was a great day full of great fun! Can't believe this girl is 7!!!

Now we've started school and are getting back into routine! We had a fun but crazy busy summer. I'm actually glad it's fall b/c we can have a bit more "normalcy"! Ha! How was your summer??

Crazy Chaos!

Wow! It's been awhile since I've been able to post. We have literally been out of town for the last month! I definitely didn't plan it very well when I booked all of these trips around the same time. Ha! But, in a way, it was easier since we were already in travel mode. We had a really great time visiting old friends, seeing family, and getting some quality time just me and MS. Now that we're back home though, every day life is back in full swing- and I'm loving it! It's so good to be home! I needed this time away to reenergize and get motivated for fall. I just ordered our curriculum for fall and I'm so excited about it! I can't wait to start up with S again! We are contemplating putting L into a preschool program too this fall. We did that for one year with S and she loved it. We felt like she really grew that year and that it was really good for her. We're hoping the same for L. We'll see! We're also getting ready to celebrate a couple of special birthdays around here. S and L both have August birthdays. So we will be busy with celebrations the next couple weeks! Well, I know this is a short post, but just wanted to quick update our life a bit and will post again soon! Hope you're summer is ending well!

Crazy how time flies!

Summer Vacation

We used to live in Nashville, TN, so our summer vacation this year was going back to our old stomping grounds to see some great friends! We didn't get to see everyone, but definitely enjoyed our time with the people we did see! I realized I didn't get pictures with everyone either. Boo. I'm terrible at that :) But I will post the pics I did get! We spent the bulk of our time with our old neighbors. They literally are like family to us! I can't believe how big their kiddos are now!!! AH! It makes me feel SO old! Haha! It was SO good to see them though! Here are the highlights from our week:

Fun with our neighbors! Love them!!

Baseball game and pool!

More baseball game and Panchos- my FAV restaurant down there!!!

The kids couldn't get enough of each other!! And fun with some more friends!

Our week at a glance...

We had a CRAZY week last week! But oh so much fun! The video (hope it works) is from our church's VBS. They asked me to be the music/big group leader. I had absolutely NO idea how much that would entail! It was SO much fun though! However, I felt like a walking zombie by Saturday. Ha! The rest of the pictures are just my crew being crazy! Enjoy!

DRC VBS Video!

He is SO his father's son!

Love :)

This child couldn't get any cuter if he tried!

Boys are so foreign to me. They are wrestling one minute and then lovin' the next! I love it!

She is growing up WAY too fast!

But still as silly as ever ;)

Music of the Heart

I am a huge fan of music. If you were to walk into my life at any point, you are almost guaranteed to hear some tunes! I love to sing, listen, dance, and play music. In my opinion, it is one of the most wonderful aspects of creation! I love what music can do to my soul. It can change my mood at the drop of a hat and can also bring me to my knees at the throne of my Savior in an instant. There have been more times than I can count where a particular lyric or song has brought me to tears. Music has a way of expressing what simple words can't. It is literally wired into my very circuitry. Because of that, I'm often touched so deeply by certain songs. Tonight is one of those nights, so I thought I would share! My "song of the night" is "You Are For Me" by Kari Jobe. Here are the lyrics:

So faithful

So constant

So loving and so true

You fill me

You see me

You know my every move

You love for me to sing to You

I know that You are for me

I know that You are for me

I know that You will never

Forsake me in my weakness

And I know that You have come down

Even if to ride upon my heart

To remind me who You are

So patient

So gracious

So merciful and true

So wonderful in all You do

You fill me

You see me

You know my every move

And You love for me to sing to You

And Lord, I know that You are for me

I know that You are for me

I know that You will never

Forsake me in my weakness

And I know that You have come down

Even if to ride upon my heart

To remind me

I know that You are for me

I know that You are for me

I know that You will never

Forsake me in my weakness

And I know that You have come down

Even if to ride upon my heart

To remind me who You are

You remind me

I know that You are for me

I know that You are for me

I know that You will never

Forsake me in my weakness

And I know that You have come down

Even if to ride upon my heart

To remind me who You are

I just love the reminders that flow out of this song. Our GOD- Creator of the universe, is FOR us. He knows everything about us. He chose to come down from the glorious heavens, humbled himself & died an excruciating death to pay for a penalty that wasn't his to pay. If that doesn't bring you to your knees, I don't know what will :) And to know that the God that did all that, is for me....well, it certainly compels me to worship. I'm so undeserving of that kind of love. But day in and day out, He is still the same loving, faithful, just God- even when I have barely given Him a thought that day. Unworthy. That's what I am. Unworthy, but so so grateful. Thank you Lord for reminding me of who you are...even when I don't deserve anything from you. Thank you....thank you.....thank you!

8 years

When we first started dating...over 10 years ago! Baby faces!!

Our wedding day:)

8 years of marriage later! Love this handsome man!!

I'm a little late in posting, but on Tuesday MS and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary! It's hard to believe that I've had the privilege of being this man's wife for 8 years already! Every year just gets better! I love him more today than I did on our wedding day. I pray that it keeps going like this for the rest of our lives! 8 years, 3 precious kids, 6 different moves, 2 different states, and lots of love later! I can honestly say that this man is my best friend. I still get so excited just to see him every morning. He makes life interesting and a lot of fun! I am an incredibly blessed woman. Thank you Lord, for this man. I do not deserve him :)

Things I never thought I'd say...

Oh my handsome little middle child. How you bring so much "life" into my day! It is never dull with this one around! L is constantly saying and doing things that make me shake my head in disbelief or laughter! Today was no exception! He's been potty trained since the winter, and things have been going fairly smoothly. We have our bad weeks occasionally, but for the most part he does pretty well. I'm not sure what was going on in his little head today though. MS grew up in the country, and you know what they say- "You can take the boy out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the boy!". That saying couldn't be more true. My sweet hubs has taught L that it's ok to pee outside. No biggie. It's made for a much easier transition into the world of big boy unders! He LOVES to pee outside:) He IS his father's son! Ha! But apparently we weren't clear that you only pee outside. Yep. You guessed it. S came running in this afternoon to inform me that L had done the #2 business behind our pine tree. Oh my. I can confirm that it is true because I went out there, grabbed a stick, and shoved it under a bush so my 2 year old wouldn't play with it. Because he would. Then to add fuel to that fire, L turned around and decided to pee in the bathroom sink later in the evening. Right after I had cleaned it. That's the life of a mama with boys! Like I said before, it's never dull. Some days I wonder what God was doing when he gave me 2 boys. I'm sure he's getting a kick out of our everyday life! I sure would if I was watching from the outside! Even though my days are often chaotic and boys are incredibly foreign to me, I wouldn't trade my precious little men for anything. They are the apple of my eye, and they make me melt like I never knew I could. I love my daughter too, but it's a different kind of love. Not less, just different:) Oh how I pray that my little men will grow up to be strong men of God! Thank you, Lord, for the blessing of their lives. May you guide me in training them to be soldiers for you!

Relinquish Your Fears

It started like a typical Monday night for me last night. Got the kiddos to bed, got myself ready, caught up on some email, watched a couple episodes of my current show, and then shut off the lights and waited for sleep to overtake me. I waited....and waited....and then it hit. I was reflecting on a conversation I had with my dad just a short time before bed. We were talking about how wonderful my hubs is, and how I truly am blessed to be married to him. (Great conversation;)!)

But as I was laying there, trying to sleep, it crept in. Fear. Anxiety. The enemy. All at once I became paralyzed with fear. Literally. The tears started flowing and it was as if I wasn't even in control of my emotions and body. It was frightening! I was terrified at the thought of losing my husband. I began to beg God to never let me experience that. I told him that I couldn't handle that. I tried talking myself out of this insane fixation, but to no avail. I didn't understand it. I had no idea why I was freaking out and why I couldn't stop it. I knew it had to be an enemy attack. So I went to the only thing I knew would stop it. Scripture. I began to quote it over and over again. "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged; for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." (Joshua 1:9)
And just as quickly as the fear came, a peace took it's place. I knew then it was definitely an attack. But I am so grateful for a God who cares and is there for me. He brought that verse to my mind and I kept repeating the scripture over and over again until sleep overtook me. I don't usually struggle with fear too much, but this was eye-opening to me. The enemy can attack at anytime and we need to be ready and prepared for it. This just challenged me to memorize more scripture so that I can indeed have the tools I need to fight off an enemy attack. The Bible tells us that the enemy "...prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour."(1 Peter 5). In order to fight him off, we need to be armed with the proper tools. There's a battle going on people. We have no need to fear though because we serve a God who is lord over it all. So arm yourself :)

Surprise Weekend & First Swimming Lessons

I have the sneakiest husband on the planet. He pulled off a surprise (early) 30th birthday party for me this weekend with our family! He brought in my whole family from Indiana too! It was wonderful to see them all! And of course, the time went by way too fast! Here's some highlights from the weekend, and yes...that's a blow torch lighting my candles ;)

We were all worn out from the fun, but started the week out with a busy day! We have another one to follow tomorrow. The older 2 kiddos started their swimming lessons today. They ROCKED it! We are so proud of them! I wasn't sure how either one would do, but I had nothing to worry about! Asher was really upset that he couldn't be in there too. He's probably the biggest fish of them all! Next year buddy! 

This is the start to a very busy, but fun, summer! I'm going to need a vacation from summer after all of this! Ha! What are your plans for summer??

Everyday Blessings

I'm going to be brutally honest. Some days I struggle to truly treasure my family. Yuck. That sounds even more horrible when I see it written. I've been challenged a lot this last year with my patience level and short-temperedness with my family. It's true, isn't it? That those closest to us tend to get the worst of us. I think that's true because it's a generally "safe" relationship. We are family. Nothing can change that. But instead of our worst, they should be getting our best.
My everyday mission field is my home. It is my job to raise up my beloved children and prepare them for life. I hope that they will grow up to know and love Christ with every fiber of their beings too. But if I'm not giving them my best, how can I expect that to happen? I know that I can't do it alone either. I know that because I fail every time I try to go it alone. So how??? How do I accomplish this seemingly insurmountable task? I've only been able to find one answer. Grace. Cling to grace by clinging to the cross. When I take a step back, in the heat of the moment, and cry out to God to step in- he does. I just need to ask. I love the reminder from
Matthew 7:7-8

"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened."

It may be a subtle whisper, or a reminder of a verse, or a reminder to count backwards from ten. Whatever way it comes, the point is that it does come. We just need to ask. What an amazing God we serve, that he desires to help us even in our ugliest moments! Thank you God, for your grace! Here are my everyday blessings:

Swimming Fun!

I decided it would be really beneficial to get a little pool for the kids. They were SO excited about it and I couldn't keep them out of it yesterday! We found out that you can fit 7 kids in it too! Our neighbor kids came over in the afternoon and joined us for some swimming fun! It definitely made the warmer day more enjoyable! Loving summer!!

Start of Summer

We have had a great start to our summer so far! Last week we took our first trip of the summer to the zoo. The weather was perfect and the kids had a blast! You can see S's blue mouth from the cool treat they got at the end of the day! My girlfriend had made them "Zoo Passports"- little booklets where they could check off the animals they saw as we walked around. It was so cute! She is so creative!

Even though it's summer, we are still in school. We got a really late start to our school year this year, so we will be schooling through the summer. But despite that, it will still be a fun and busy summer with lots to do!

I wanted to share a verse that is beginning to mean a lot to me.

"The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing." Zephaniah 3:17(NIV)

What an amazing thing to know that the God of the universe delights in us! I know that I personally am so undeserving of that delight- but he does it anyways! Over this last year, the Gospel has become new to me all over again. I'm really enjoying learning about my God in a whole new light. It still amazes me that after...ahem...30...ugh...years that I can learn something new about my Creator! I love that! I will try and share my new findings as I come across them in hopes that you may learn something new too:) How has the start to your summer been so far??

Back to blogging!

Ok, so I've decided that I'm really going to do this now! Ha! I've been encouraged by some to keep going with this. So since I know that there's no way I'll keep up everyday, I'm shooting to post once a week.
We had a very busy weekend here at the Olson house! The kids were fishing with MS and had a blast!

I didn't get to go because of a conference I was attending- which was also really great! It was full of encouraging tidbits on how to maintain a healthy and balanced life- emotionally, spiritually, and physically. I definitely needed that! So now that I'm on a new venture of blogging, I hope that this will help keep family and friends updated on our life, be a great tool for us to look back on and remember, and a way to bring glory to God! Thanks for joining me on my journey!