Organization

It's not my strong suit. Not at ALL! But I keep trying. I am working to get us on a schedule. It's something I know that we need but that I keep resisting because getting us on a schedule takes time that I often feel like I just don't have. However, I have been really feeling convicted of this lack of organization in my life. I believe that God has called me to homeschool my children and that means that I need to actually... um, do it! It's not that I don't try. I do. It's just that I get distracted and then the kids get distracted and sometimes (okay, most of the time) it's so easy to just think to myself 'Hey, they're enjoying themselves quietly in their room, who am I to interrupt?!' and then just settle myself into something on my own. Not that I'm sitting around doing nothing. Not even close. I'm always doing something, it seems. I just need to be making more time for them and stop worrying so much about everything else.

Something I need to work on is sleep. I need to be more scheduled in my sleep patterns. I need to get up before the kids do. I know this. I don't want to do it. But if I don't then I wake up with them and practically go to bed with them and get little to no time to myself. So my goal for this week is to get to bed by 11 and up by 6. That gives me 7 hours of sleep and time in the morning to wake up, spend some time in Bible and prayer for the long day ahead, and eat breakfast before Alex wakes up at about 7. The girls are in bed until 8:30 but I think I'm going to change that next week. I want to get myself in sync first. One goal at a time.

November is almost over and we've been learning, just not as much as I would like. So another goal for this week is to write out a schedule that the girls and I can utilize each day with time mapped out for each activity/subject. It can be a little flexible, but overall I think a schedule will really help Jenna and me stay on task better. I don't know if it will help Marah, but it's good to start practicing the concept with her and it should help her to learn more about the idea of time as well.

Another thing I want to get started up before December starts is a homeschool blog. I've considered keeping everything in one spot here but I think it will be better to do it this way. Keeping the more personal stuff separate so that people who are only interested in homeschool type stuff can read it all in one place without having to wade through any family type stuff. We'll see. I'm still thinking about it.

Anyway, for now I'm just sharing these goals because it's always good to put it out there. Helps keep me accountable and also is helpful to others who are in the same crazy boat that I'm in to know that they are NOT alone!

As October Ends

What books and/or magazines did I read this month?
I didn't read as much this month as I normally do, but I did manage to read a couple of books. For Women Only: What You Need to Know About the Inner Lives of Men (Walker Large Print Books)
was my favorite relationship book to date and I can't believe how much I learned from it! The wisdom in that book truly helped improve my outlook on my marriage and, most of all, my husband. I am so grateful for that book! I also started the book Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: The Classic Regency Romance - Now with Ultraviolent Zombie Mayhem!
. This is a mash-up of the original book with a tale of zombie invasion woven in. It's been pretty interesting so far. After I finish this I may just have to read the original.
I've been enjoying Disney Family Fun
magazine, too! This magazine is full of so many great craft ideas, learning games, stories, etc. A great resource for parents of young children.

What movies, television shows, plays, etc. did I watch this month?
I saw Zombieland for my birthday. It was pretty funny. Eric and I enjoyed it! We took the girls to see Where the Wild Things Are on opening day. It was interesting. Not really sure how much I enjoyed it. It was definitely stranger than I was expecting, and a lot more depressing.
I've been enjoying the new TV show, Glee. This show completely reminds me of high school and of the stigma that went along with being a part of groups like choir and colorguard. I pretty much enjoy anything with singing and dancing. Also, Eric and I have been getting pretty into the show True Blood on HBO. It's a pretty graphic show about vampires and at first I wasn't sure what to think about it, but the story line has been ridiculously engrossing. I still think the vampire obsession and love stories are strange and they kind of make me uncomfortable and awkward at times, but the show keeps ending with these crazy cliffhangers that make you crazy with the need to watch more! Please, though, if you consider checking it out, you need to know that it is explicitly graphic with violence, blood, gore, sex and is not for everyone. And please do not let your teenage kids watch this show. Oh man, it is NOT for kids. If you hear of your kids watching or being into this show, you should see what it's about... seriously. Please.
Oh, and Flash Forward. That one has been pretty interesting too! Really makes me long for Lost to start up again!

What fun things did I do with my family and/or friends?
Well, for my birthday I spent the day with Eric just shopping, eating, talking, relaxing. In the evening we went out with Mike, Abby, and Landon for some drinks and dancing. We had a great time!
We've also been going to small group Bible study with a group that our old church in Thief River Falls put together for those of us who live in the GF/EGF area now. It's been great to get together with friends to talk about God and love.
We took a trip out to the Pumpkin Patch for the third year in a row and had a great time as usual. It was so funny to look at the pictures of Alex compared to last years photos! He was a little wrinkly baby a year ago!

What special or unusual purchases did I make?
Well, I bought a few new shirts for myself. I was long overdue, believe me. You know, it's pretty sad when I look at our closet and Eric's side is more than twice as full as mine! I need to start doing a little more clothes buying for myself. I also have seen a need for my girls wardrobe. They have next to nothing to wear for church. I'm not the type that thinks we should all wear our "Sunday best" every week, but sometimes would be nice. We don't even have enough for sometimes. We really don't even have enough for once. Man, those clothes really add up!

What illnesses or health concerns did I have?
I've been very healthy. I hardly ever get sick. Jenna has been healthy all month as well. Marah has had a cold for over a month, as has Alex. They must keep catching new cold viruses. It's been unending! Eric took Alex to see the doctor yesterday and he's fine, just has a virus, so that's one less thing to worry about which is always nice. Eric has been doing okay. No Crohn's flare ups and no real issues with cold or flu either. Hopefully things will stay that way.


Overall, October was a great month! I'm enjoying being thirty, my kids are loving Awana, Jenna is so busy with Girl Scouts, Eric has been doing great in school, Alex is close to walking, and we are trying to enjoy the coziness of fall before winter flies in. Tomorrow is Halloween and we will be heading to the church for their party plus some trick-or-treating in the mall. Should be fun!

Time for Me

Since September began I have been struggling with trying to walk the fine line between having a clean house and spending time with my family. This is one of my biggest hurdles in life and I wish I could find a perfect solution. I'm fairly disorganized and that makes things even more difficult. I have such a hard time keeping track of things so that when I need to get a project done I end up spending an hour looking for everything I need and by the time I get everything ready somebody will inevitably need me for something.

There is always something. Always.

Today I am taking a personal day. Ever since I started planning Alex's birthday I have felt overwhelmed and exhausted. Finally, all the birthday stuff is done. I have had my fill of shopping. I am ready to take a break. So today I have done nothing. Or, well, as close to nothing as possible being a stay at home mom. It feels good, but at the same time I can't help but notice the messes piling up, the things left undone. I'm forcing myself to ignore it though. Tomorrow will be here soon enough and I can clean and do things to my heart's content. But today... today will be for me.

We need to do that every once in awhile.

and I was like, when did that happen?!

Today is my birthday. Today I turn 30. I'm super excited about it. I feel like it's a time for new beginnings. I hope to turn it into a decade of wonderfulness and adventure! I want my thirties to be amazing and I am committed to making sure that happens. Even if life decides to throw us a rough curveball, I'll be ready and willing to conquer any trial with the blessed assurance that my God is big enough to handle it.

I have been struggling lately with my weight loss. Kinda hit a bump in the road that threw me off course for awhile, but I've found my way back and while I'm not at the goal I had originally set for myself to be at by my birthday (I had hoped to be at 185) I did reset a realistic goal after gaining back a little of the weight I had lost. My summer journey had brought me down to 192 and then back up to 202. So a week and a half ago I rededicated myself to this lifestyle and made a goal of 195 by my birthday. I knew it would take a lot of work and focus. I knew I would have to get off my lazy butt once again. I knew it would be hard. And I was right. This morning I tentatively stepped up onto the scale and was so excited to see the numbers ONE-NINE-FIVE staring up at me. I mean... I did it!



Realistically, today is just another day. Sure we will be celebrating this evening but today will go on like any other. Laundering, playing, changing diapers, washing dishes, studying, reading, eating sandwiches... the usual. But that's okay. If the world wanted to stop so I could bask in birthday glory I would be cool with that, but of course that is not reality and I'm okay with that too!

Tonight we will go out for dinner, the five of us and then the kids will go to play at a friend's house while Eric and I go see this movie-



Ooh, I'm excited! LOL I'm sure my mom is cringing!

Here's to a wonderful year!

So, have a happy day! Enjoy it!

Why I Love Autumn

Top Ten Reasons I Love Autumn (in no particular order)

10. Snuggling up with a Chai Tea Latte made in the comfort of my own home



9. Nature's gorgeous display



8. Cozy Sweaters



7. Halloween



6. My Birthday



5. Pumpkins



4. The smell of fires burning in fireplaces



3. Rain



2. Baking



1. Warm soup

Did I Forget to Mention?

So Marah's party was nearly a week ago and I still haven't posted a word about it. I post on Facebook right away because it has a much better photo uploader than Blogger. I hate loading to Blogger. I wish they would improve that. So I'm going to start posting just a few of my fave pics here and then linking to the Facebook album. Hopefully that works. Then if you want to see more, you can. If you don't, you don't have to wade through all the pics.

Marah loved her party! We all had a nice time. I didn't do any games or anything like that. It was enough work just doing food and decorations. I'm just not a party planner! She got lots of nice gifts and mermaid stuff. I even made her a mermaid doll for the occasion. She LOVED her doll. It was really cute when I gave it to her. She gasped and hugged it and proclaimed her love for it. She even called it her "precious doll". It made the very late night of sewing it all worth it!

Here is my favorite picture from the day:



and here is a link to the album: CLICK HERE

The girls have been doing great with their Awana stuff. I have been so proud of the work they are putting into it. It is so cute to hear Marah reciting her verses. She is very proud to have her Cubbies vest and she earned her Jumper patch this week. She is excited about the patches because Jenna gets patches for Girl Scouts so now she feels special too.

Speaking of Girl Scouts... whew! Jenna has been BUSY with Girl Scouts! She recently has made raspberry jam, cleaned garbage from a parking lot, gone to the water park, had a campout and spent an entire (very long) day exploring the campground. This weekend she is going to a UND Fighting Sioux hockey game (the season opener) and next weekend she will be marching in the Potato Bowl parade with the Girl Scout float. She has a haunted trail walk at the end of the month as well as a Multicultural event in the middle of the month. Not to mention meetings and now Fall candy and magazine sales! She is absolutely loving it and I am loving to see her love it! Yesterday at their meeting they created Christmas cards for a contest the council is having and it was so cute to see all the girls raving about Jenna's drawing skills. She was so proud!

Today we took a nature walk by the river. It was a blustery and cloudy morning so we all bundled up and trekked through mud, collecting leaves, flowers, bark, rocks, crickets and grasshoppers. It was such a nice time. I love being outdoors with the family. And our window of opportunity is quickly closing for the year.

Here are my favorites:











and here is the link to the album: CLICK HERE

We are going to create a nature display for all the treasures we found and look up the plants online. Talking about the change in seasons and God's hand in all of creation.

This weekend we plan to go out to the Pumpkin Patch if it's not too nasty out. I hope it will be a nice day. Maybe we'll make some warm Fall dessert to enjoy as well.

So what are you planning to do to celebrate Autumn?

Alex and the Party

The party we had for Alex was a lot of fun! It was so nice having friends and family over to celebrate our little boy's first year. Alex has had a nasty runny nose cold for over a week now so I have not been able to take him outside for his one year photo shoot but hopefully next week or maybe this weekend, though it's not looking promising.

On Sunday we celebrate our 5th year with Marah and we'll be having a mermaid party. She is very excited! I have so much to do to get ready and as usual I am waiting until the last minute. My plan is to sew a mermaid doll for her so we'll see if I get to do it tomorrow. Eric is taking the girls to his sister's house for the day/overnight so that should give me plenty of time to get things done.

Alright, lots to do. Here are the pics from the party.

Ah September

As August came to an end I was highly anticipating September. I made a commitment to start the month off with a renewed spirit and a desire to soak up all the beauty of Fall because Winter will arrive before we know it and our chances to go out into the world are quickly coming to an close.

So with September comes a new school year and I was very excited to start things this year! I actually made an effort to plan out a curriculum plan for the whole month well ahead of time so I was getting antsy to get started. Marah was desperate to start doing her "homeworks" too, which made waiting until the 8th a little difficult. I wanted to start at the same time as the local public school though, so I pressed through the first seven days with encouragement to Marah that school would start soon enough.

This year we have Jenna in the third grade:


Marah in Kindergarten:


and Alexander in... well, he's just cute.


We have three birthdays coming up! Alex will be turning one in less than 2 weeks! Marah will be turning five in 3 weeks! I will be turning 30 in a month! Very fun and exciting time of the year for us! I've been busily planning the kids birthday parties and trying to be creative and fun with them.

For Alex we will be having a rainbow color theme with lots of fun, colorful decorations and rainbow cupcakes! I am very excited about it. I think it's going to be so cute! If you want to get Alex a gift and are looking for ideas, he has a wishlist on Amazon.com that you can check out. Link to Alex's Wish List

For Marah we will be having a mermaid party with lots of fish, blue and green and purple streamers, and, of course, mermaids. She has been begging for a mermaid party since about November of last year so she is very excited that I'm doing it for her. I even bought her a Mermaid Cookbook that I will be making items from for the party and then presenting to her as a gift so that we can make mermaid creations any time! She loves to cook so she should be excited about that. If you are looking for ideas on what to buy for Marah, she has an Amazon.com wishlist as well. Link to Marah's Wish List

And I don't know what I'll be doing for my birthday yet. It would be nice if someone *cough* Eric *cough* thought of something nice to do, but I won't be holding my breath. I know that no matter what I do, as long as I get to spend time with my friends and family I will be happy. It's more than many people get and I am very blessed to have so many wonderful people in my life who love me. That said, if you were thinking of getting me anything, I also have a wishlist. Link to Ashley's Wish List

However, we do not NEED any of these things. I am not asking for gifts, for any of us. I only wanted to put the ideas out there for anyone who was already planning to purchase anything for any of us. I will say that I am trying to break away from battery operated toys and shift toward the more natural, rustic toys. Handmade. It's a good thing. Also books. Books are ALWAYS welcomed by any of us Olson's. It is a happy day when I have to buy a new bookshelf because we have run out of room.

Anyway, I have things that need doing before I head off to the bedroom for the evening so I will say good night.