Six Flags!

You mean lemonade?

Me: What do yall want to drink for supper?
Jason: Whemonade!
Maddie: I want whemonade too!
Jason: Maddie, it's not whemonade, it's whemonade!

Daddy's Turn

So tonight was Trav's night to brush teeth (the kids' I mean). Let me set this up:

9:47 pm. After swimming for 1 1/2 hours. No naps. I repeat no naps.

This is the exchange I hear between Trav & Maddie in the bathroom:

Trav: "Maddie, open your mouth."
Mads: "NO! Mommy will do it!"
Trav: This time more stern, less patient, "Maddie, open your mouth, it's time to brush your teeth."
Mads: "I'm not brushing my teeth!"
Trav: "Fine. I'm done."

Maddie runs out, Trav finishes up Jason.

Maddie to Me: "I didn't brush my teeth."
Trav emerges minutes later: "I didn't do as thorough a job with Maddie..."

I love that I have a husband who helps with the kidos. He does dishes too. And he makes the best quesadillas. And sandwiches. And bbq'd pizza.

The Awesome Reasoning of a 4 year old

We were at Lake Texoma for the weekend and while in the lake Jason asks, "Mamma, if you wear sunscreen, will Moon hurt you?"

Is it any good?

So after spending 2 hours making 12 jars of jam (YES, 12!), i'm wondering if they'll be any good, if they'll set up right, have I wasted a lot of time and moolah...and Maddie walks in, sees the strawberry jam mess on my apron, and starts licking it. And doesn't stop. I guess I got my answer.

Summer Vacation

Time with Grammy Candy & Grampa Gordy - We love you!




Day Trip to the Beach at Seaside, Oregon

Happy Birthday to Jason

Four years ago my life changed drastically, amazingly, and forever. Nothing will ever be the same. I look at every situation through Mommy Glasses.

Jason, you have brought me joy I never knew I could experience, stretch marks, laughter deeper than ever reached, more knowledge about superheroes and their powers than I ever cared to know, lots of grey hair, a deeper appreciation for my own mother and father, but more than ever, you have given me more love in these seemingly 4 short years than I ever thought my heart could hold. You are beautiful, smart, loving, generous, tall, handsome, intelligent, and funny. You are everything I ever wished for when I dreamed of you years and years ago.

Today we sat in a theatre and watched Toy Story 3, (which, by the way, wasn't the best of ideas given today my baby turned 4). 5 years ago the story of a boy outgrowing his toys would have been just that, a story, but today, it strikes so many more cords, emotional ones at that. Jason can buckle himself into his car seat by himself, he insists on pouring his own syrup on his waffles, he picks out his own clothes (he has his father's awesome sense of style). Never again will he be tiny enought to fit into my arms, or need me to provide his every bit of nourishment. My life is way harder, things take way longer (simple things. things that should take seconds, take HOURS), I have no money, my hips, boobs, and thighs will never be the same; I love you so much it sometimes hurts, but I wouldn't trade the experience of being your mother for anything.

Sitting in a west Texas mexican restaurant last week, our last night of vacation, Trav and Jason sitting across from me, Maddie sitting next to me quietly crushing her tortilla chips, I realized I have been given everything I could ever want, and I've achieved a level of happiness many people will never know. Not just joy, but complete contentment, how could I ever ask The Good Lord for anything more? I have so much and I'm so greatful.

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

Only in America would driving 4500 miles, 2 plane trips, and traveling to 4 different states with 2 small (and very vocal) children be considered a "vacation." Our trip to In N Out Burger, however, was well worth it.

Maddie & Jason had a great time with Grama and Grampa Oregon who showered them with love, attention, and lots of other goodies (Jason's still wearing his Nemo swim get up).

I'll post pictures of the beach and aquarium, so tune in!

Welcome Home Mommy

So right after school was out, I headed south to San Marcos at Texas State University to play teacher/counselor at an Aquatics Adventure Camp. TONS-O-FUN! We went scuba diving, snorkeling, tubing, river rafting, to the underground caverns in New Braunfels, and to Sea World. It was a great experience, but, I missed 9 wake ups, 8 bedtime stories (I didn't miss the preceeding 8 teeth brushings), and lots of other good stuff. M & J had a great time with PaPa & Grama, and Trav had an even better time revamping the Jetta, but I'm sure glad to be home.

(Again) I'm not making this up...

Travis: (to Jason after he emerges from the bathroom with a request to wipe his bottom. Remember, he's still only 3.)
"When are you gonna learn to wipe your own butt?" (in that lovingly-Travis way)

Jason: "When I go to butt-college."

I'm not making this up.

Got Floss?

I didn't floss tonight. I'm only writing because flossing was one of my new year's resolutions. That's how perfect my life is. The only thing I could think to improve upon it is to floss regularly.
Not.
That was resolution #4. I really don't have the time/space/energy to go into the other 4, plus resolution #3 is kind of private.
I resoluted to floss nightly because researchers just keep finding all these good things about flossers. Flossers have lower incidents of heart disease. Flossers have more friends. People who floss have more followers on social networking sites. Flossers tend to buy more dental floss.
Anyway, I didn't floss. I'm still averaging about 4 times a week, I'm just wondering what the research says about non-commited flossers?
Which reminds me, pre-M & J, back when I was thin, wealthy, had lots of free time, when I lived in Florida and was flossing daily, I was at my dentist for my 6 month check up. She asked me if I was flossing regularly. I proudly announced, "Yes, every night, right before bed." To which she responded:
"That's it. Just one time a day?"
"JUST ONE TIME A DAY???" REALLY? The majority of the population doesn't floss once a day and you're on my back because I'm not flossing twice? Who has that kind of time? Even pre-children I didn't have that sort of luxury. Nevertheless, I changed dentists. I think she would be very disappointed tonight.

Garden News

So this year's garden has gone jungle on us! We won't exactly be able to have a tent at the farmer's market-this year anyway, but we will be eatin' good in just a couple of weeks.

This year's plants:
-carrots (not so sure these guys took, but I am seeing something carrot-esque, we'll have to wait and see)
-corn
-cucumber
-zucchini squash
-green beans
-yellow squash
-peas (not doin' so hot, they're on the their last leg, er, vine?)
-green beans (still in critical condition after being attacked by a vicious gang of cucumber beetles, we'll just have to watch and see)
-cantaloupe
-bell peppers
-2 tomato plants
-banana peppers (Trav's)

Anywho, I'll keep yall updated on what's happening!

Happy Birthday to Me

This month I celebrated my 34th birthday. I cannot believe I'm 34. I don't feel 34. I don't look 34? (Don't answer that.)
Anywho, my birthday came and I have so much to be thankful for. The Good Lord has blessed me with a wonderful, witty, sometimes not-so-charming husband who cooks, repairs toilets, washers, and super hero heads (but fumbles through diaper changes after almost 4 years of practice! But he DOES change them), 2 beautifully amazingly perfect children with impressive vocabularies, excellent appetites, and who are 100% Mamma's Babies, a brother who is my friend, my family, there's not really a word to describe what he means to me and to us, a mom and a dad who would drop anything and everything to do what we need, a successful career, a humble home, 2 dogs, a high maintenance cat,an abundance of fun and reliable friends, and a partridge in a...
One of my thoughts was, "Wow, I'm lucky." But not really. Luck has nothing to do with it. The Good Lord has blessed me, yes, and I've made lots of decision, put up a lot of elbow grease and hard work to get where I am. I'm so proud of what I have and of who I have around me. Happy Birthday!

My favorites

Going Green

You can't get crazy about growing your own food without changing everything else. Here's a start at going green inside.

Food!

As most of my friends & family know, I love food! I love to cook, bake, shop, prepare, and eat good food with those I love. Our garden is a might bigger than last year's (see awesome photos on down) and we have an awesome compost bin. Maddie and Jason know all of our fruit and vegetable waste heads outside to the composter. I love that M & J have helped with the garden and are actively involved in tending to it. We've recently joined a CSA (consumer shared agriculture) where any day now, we'll start picking up a weekly share of food grown from a family farm, we'll soon be purchasing our eggs from a farm as well. If I could find raw milk at a fair price, we'd even switch over.

My lastest concern/fixation is on genetically engineered crops. Watching a documentary I learned that corporations, specifically, Monsanto, can now own by having a patent on seeds. This patent allows them to control their seeds as well as their prodigies (offspring or other seeds and crops) regardless of there they spread or how they get there. That allows these corportations to essentially own almost all crops as seeds spread so easily. These companies are changing the seeds at the cellular level by adding ecoli DNA to make them resistant to their particular brand of herbicides and pesticides. They are even experimenting with altering seeds so that they must be sprayed with their own brand of starting agent in order to begin germination! That's terrifying when you think that a large corporation is controlling our food supply. Because these corporations have so many of their employees in Washington and on the payrolls at the FDA, there is no regulation on tinkering with the genetic make-up of seeds, they are patenting all kinds of seeds, and there is currently no law requiring food that contains genetically engineered crops to be labeled!

UGH! I think I'm going to convince Trav to take our backyard garden & compost pile and head to a deserted island, I'll send yall pictures and postcards.

Happy Trails,

Dishes are Done!

Tonight Maddie & Jason "helped" me do the dishes. It took us 40 minutes. I also got to mop the floor tonight.

I have free time!

Musical Beds - Maddie napping in Jason's bed

Spock & Jason napping in Maddie's room

Maddie & Jason playing together

Happy 2nd Birthday Maddie!

Jason was totally going crazy over Maddie's strawberry cake!

Mommy, M, & J

Got Milk?

Many milk lovers despise skim milk. Called "thin", "watery", "wannabe", it's really the outcast of the dairy world, but after a 12 year plan to wean myself from whole milk to skim, the day has finally come that I reach past the whole, past the 1%, and grab for the skim, the dimly hued liquid so unpopular in the grocer's case.
I started out in '76 on whole milk and didn't really realize the cons of whole until the mid 80's, however, it wasn't until 97 that I made a conscious decision to move, slowly but surely, aware from the silent white threat to a healthier option.
It wasn't an easy transition, not long after my decision, I switched to 2% and suffered nightsweats and weightloss (who knew 4 glassess of whole milk a day would keep the pounds on); after 3 1/2 years on 2%, I figured it as time to move to phase 2 of my transition. I looked for 1 3/4 %, but 1 1/2 % was as close as I could get. On 1 1/2 percent for 6 months, I was feeling good and ready for a change, I heroically moved to 1%. Then a setback, after moving to florida to work for Eckerd Wilderness camps, I learned 2% was all they served. I was devistated-and off the wagon.
Well, here we are 7 years later, and countless gallons later, I made it, I'm on skim milk. It was a long hard journey, but I'm proud I made it!

Bath Time?

Today I took a bath with 6 army men and a blue avatar creature, considering they were 6 inches tall and comprised mostly of plastic, it really wasn't as relaxing as you'd think.

I heart Jason Olson

Reason #4,529 I love Jason Olson

Tonight as I'm tucking Jason into bed (this is not an exaggeration, summary, or paraphrase, names have been changed to protect the innocent)
"Mommy, I love you more than...chocolate brownies...with BACON on top!"

: )

Cheetle?

I detest cheetos. I'm not sure from which plant the cheeto comes from, but whatever plant it is, I'm pretty sure I don't like it either, in fact, I know I don't like it. I have a list of 58 reasons not to like cheetos (sorry Frito-Lay).

There are many highly entertaining parts to Toy Story 2, but the most hilarious scence, and the one that epitomizes exactly why I'm so opposed to cheetos. Big Al, the morbidly obese toy store owner (proving beyone doubt that eating cheetos contributes to weight gain, laziness, and overall disgustingness), falls asleep watching television while snacking on said snack. He has cheetle (the orange, powdery residue left on your fingers after eating cheetos, this, by the way, is a real word) (BTW, "cheetle" is reason #2 I can't stand said snack) Anywho, back to the cheetle on his fingers, around his mouth, it's everywhere, Woody & the horse are trying to sneak out and the cheetos are everywhere (reason number 17 I detest them, they scatter & travel easily) as they're trying to escape, they step on one, and it crumbles everywhere. cheetos grind easily into all types of materials.

moral of the story: cheetos are bad, (just ask Big Al & Woody)

I really have the best brother ever! Every year we see Robert Earl Keen at Bass Hall in Ft. Worth (with awesome seats) thanks to my bro. We had supper & a terrific time with REK. Thanks ROCKER!

the most wonderful time of the year

Christmas really is the most wonderful time of the year. I'm so sorry to see it go, as we were taking down the Christmas tree, all the decorations, putting away the Christmas cds, I'm already looking forward to next Christmas. Here's a little of what the Olsons did this season:
We cut down our own tree...
M & J revealed their secret identities as super heros
Oh, & Jason grew out his mustache

xoxo

I HEART the awesome 3's

Jason: Mommy, can I wipe this booger on you?
Me: No!
Jason: SPOCK!
Me: JASON!
Jason: MADDIE!
Me: JASON, do not wipe a booger on your sister!

Olson Kids Free Time

I wanted to show you all what the M & J like to do during their free time...Maddie & Jason both love Nutella! They especially like it on waffles, toast, or on a spoon.

Maddie enjoys spending her free time organizing & doing office work. (She does not get this from Travis.)
Jason really values relaxation time.

Lewisville Garden Club Newcomer Award

So I was all set to accept Lewisville Garden Club's Newcomer Award for best new gardener who produced an awesome harvest 1st year gardening, until a couple of things happened. A) I was never nominated/awarded, b) Spock & Kirk destroyed cantaloupe batches 1 & 2, c) I spaced the squash too close to the "snugar snap peas" d) the bugs at the brocolli and e) Jason picked the awesome cherry tomatoes and fed them to Spock and Kirk.

Anywho, to all you naysayers out there, (and you know who you are, naysayers you!) I still have 3 corn stalks coming in, bell peppers out the @#$&, 1 producing tomato plant and 5 cantaloupe! I may not be a top seller at the farmer's market this year, but next year, watch out!

Do you know that moment, after you've flushed the toilet, when the water is rising, not draining, that moment of panic when you've realized, "it's gonna overflow!" "what should I do? Should I make a break for it and get some towels, what towels? Which towels would I be ok throwing away!? What about the rugs?! should I move the rugs?! No, plunge, now's the time to plunge!" Well, I just had that moment, not a good feeling.

"Jason, are you being mean to Spock?"
"No...I'm being to mean Maddie!"

Brownies anyone?

Brownies anyone?

Brownies anyone?

So I love, love, love, to bake, cook, and/or create food. Before I lived here at this circus tent I sometimes refer to as my "home" with the circus people that stay here that I sometimes refer to as my "family" I did a lot of creative cooking and baking. As a matter of fact, I've invented many recipes, but that's for another entry. Tonight I decided Jason and I would make brownies together, mistake number 1. I saw a really easy recipe on Everyday foods http://www.pbs.org/everydayfood/ for a brownie with cream cheese swirl that looked terrific (aside and an entry for another day as well, the recipe is fouled up, don't try it, you have to add the flour/cocoa mixture where is says "flour") anywho, I digress. Jason & I were really excited about our culinary venture that was about to begin. Trav had to mow, so it was just me, Jason, Maddie, Spock & Kirk, mistake #2. Chair comes into the kitchen, up goes M & J, Spock and Kirk sprawled out on the floor, chaos, Julia Childs herself couldn't have concocted something edible under these conditions. After several near altercations between M & J regarding whose stirring the above mentioned flour/cocoa mixture Maddie goes on my hip, mistake #, I can't remember. Jason pours in the flour/cocoa mixture, "very gently" I preface, half goes on the floor, "we're such good helpers!" Jason responds, (I'm pretty sure he could see the grief oozing from every pore). After Maddie sneezed in the batter, I tried to remember if I even washed my hands after turning the compost and fishing superheros out of the pool. Oops, mistake number 593. Finishing up the cream cheese mixture Jason disappears only to reemerge minutes later. "Check out this poopy, Mommy!" So we abandon the venture to take care of the aforementioned poopy. After 55 minutes, the brownies finally go into the oven. I can't wait to taste them.

Ultimus Prime, Deceptacon, & Bumble Bee?

Jason is now referring to himself as "Ultimus Prime," Maddie is "Deceptacon" and I have become "Bumble Bee." (Note, no need to dial CPS, he's only seen a few episodes of the cartoon from when we were kids), anywho, tonight it was "Jason, can you grab Maddie's shoes." "No, Mommy, I'm not Jason, I'm Ultimus Prime, she's Deceptacon." "Ok, Ultimus Prime, can you grab Deceptacon's shoes?" "Sure, Bumble Bee, we're such great helpers!" I love the 3's!