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!