Happy Halloween from the ooooooOOOOlsens!

The girls in their Halloween outfits.

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Carving Punkin's

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Our Spooky dinner and our Hunchback waiter.

Happy Halloween!!!

Fall festivities

Its Fall (and snowing) so we have been busy with fun Autumn/Halloween activities. We've tried to cram them all in before Winter sneaks up on us.

We, ...well I should say "I", had grandiose plans for Halloween costumes this year and I failed miserably. Extra time to do projects seems a distant memory to me.

So our "go to" costumes it is! We had a family of pirates to take down to Scarecrow Row this year. It was a little chilly with the wind but we stayed warm with hot cocoa.

We walked in the parade and got to be right in front of these guys:

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Connor was a little scared of that group for the whole parade....but finally got brave enough to give knuckles to a Trooper. The Chewbacka was very impressive I might add.

As soon as October 1st hits the calendar I go Halloween crazy. It is my second favorite Holiday.We put up our decorations and the kids helped make a delish' carrot cake and got to slather it with 2 different kinds of frosting and spooky sprinkles.

Then on Monday, my amazing friend Sara invited several families over to her backyard for a mini harvest carnival.

Her and her hubby set up different stations in their huge yard for kids to rotate through and play fun games.

They had a big bon fire, hot cocoa, treats and hey rides for kids. So much fun.

We had to tear Ellie away from the cricket races and Connor from the doughnuts when it was time to go.

We still have 2 class parties this week and a school carnival next week. Lots of fun and LOTS of candy= lots of teeth brushing!

I like to eat,eat,eat....

Sawyer's favorite foods list:

#1- First and always his favorite is MILK, this boy is a guzzler.

#2-Rice cereal. He finally figured out how to keep some in his mouth.

#3-Sweet potatoes. He smiles after every bite.

#4-Apparently paper gum wrappers. Found one in his diaper last week and for the life of me can not figure out when or how that happened.

And nothing is better than being fed by a big sister.

(wow, slight nudity alert)

pumpkin patch

I got to go with Connor on a Field Trip to a local Pumpkin Patch. It was so fun!! It was my first time going with one of my kids on this field trip because I was preggo and puking last year when Ellie got to go.

I wasn't sure how Connor would act with me there. I thought he might want to be with his friends instead, but the minute we got on the bus he put his hands out on the seat so that nobody could sit next to him but me. And he held my hand the whole way there. Yep....teared up a bit.

What a fun farm they had. You would have thought they had never seen a pumpkin in their lives. The bus doors opened and the kids flew out.

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Connor was careful in his choosing and picked a white one, my favorite kind.

After they picked their pumpkin they played in the corn field and then sat on a hey bail maze to listen to Mrs. C tell all about her farm and how the pumpkins were planted and grown.

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They were all given a treat and then it was time to head back. I'll tell ya, after spending 2 hours with 30 five year old's I felt like I had wrangled chickens ALL day. But we had fun and I am one proud mama!

missing kid feeling and new milestones

I have talked to many women about the feeling you sometimes get when you know there is still a baby or babies waiting to join your family. I have had that feeling in the past. After I had Connor I would find myself looking around for that "other person" or think for just a second that we had to be quiet because that "other baby" was sleeping and even feeling like I was missing someone after putting all the kids in the car.
So after Scott and I decided that Sawyer was the one who was completing our family I was TERRIFIED that I would get that feeling and always wonder. But in the last 4 months I have learned the power of trusting the answers I receive and having faith. I will admit I have had some of these "missing child feelings" but they are very different than before, in that I feel like I am just looking for the kids I already have. I feel like I am just keeping track. Still counting kids in the car, but only up to 4.
I feel so comfortable with my little family and I really think that I am loving every stage of each of their lives right now.

*Ellie is really trying to be a more friendly person at school and branching out to make new friends. She has really liked taking on the Big Sister at School role for Connor and they seem to play so much better with each other lately.
*Connor is opening up and this new little personality is emerging. A little less shy and a lot more energy. He is so sweet to his little brother and Loves to do his chores and help me cook.
*Macie, although a little more prone to mini fits over silly little things since school started, is really growing up. She has a new love for playing house with me (she is my mother-not mom, mother- and I am her daughter Kira) and is such a funny little girl. She cracks me up all day long.
*Sawyer is rolley polley, smiley and Slobbery!! Some new milestones for him are: He has recently discovered his toes and apparently they must taste like bacon or chocolate chips because they are always being pulled into his mouth.

He learned how to roll from his tummy to his back and vice versa.

And gives the best lick/kisses you have ever gotten.

lunch lady land

I forgot how boring the lunch packing routine for school gets. I am SO NOT CREATIVE when it comes to food and my kids have the same old same old pretty much every lunch I make. They practically beg me if they can have school lunch...sad.

But a while back I came across

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this site

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and it is my new addiction. Look how fun these lunches are.

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I love the muffin tin lunches for Macie, it seems she Never wants to eat lately but put her food in little metal holes and she's all over it!

student becomes the teacher

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Yesterday I had a teaching moment with Ellie in which... I am pretty sure I was the one who learned the lesson.
I realize that I'm far from all the perfect mothers out there and still have so much to learn and yesterday was proof of the many area's I need to work on.
-Morning's are always a blur at our house. Waking up kids, making and serving breakfast, doing hair, making sure teeth get brushed, getting them dressed, finding shoes, packing up all four out the door and to the school by about 8:00. So as I was in a crazy hurry because I had to change a surprise poopy blowout, I tossed Ellie her clothes and shoes to put on. Enter Whining.
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"I don't like this shirt" "These shoes are big and heavy" "I look silly, like I'm on a farm"
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We went back and forth pleading our cases until she got sassy and threw her shoe on the ground in protest and sat on the couch with her arms folded. STINKER!!
I had Enough!!! I was at my limit.
I said "That's it! I'm done... you take care of getting yourself ready. You have 14 minutes and then you are to be in the car." And I walked away.
-This is how I expected the next 14 minutes to go:
Ellie (a little shocked and realizing that it is hard to find a matching outfit, find clips, do her own hair, and gather the missing shoe from under the couch) cries but finally gives up and just gets ready my way.
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-This is how the 14 minutes actually went:
Ellie, with a Victory smile on her face, proceeds to her closet and comes out with an outfit only the mind of Lady Gaga could think up. She gets dressed in 1 minute flat, puts on an equally hideous jacket, runs a brush through one side of her hair and hops in the van. 1o minutes to spare. Done and Done.

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My mouth drops. I don't even know what to do. I can't go back on my word, I can't make her come back in and put on the clothes I had picked out. She was to get herself ready. It was her....Punishment??
-She learned that she could easily pick out her own clothes and it was fun.
I learned to think out my decisions that are spun out of frustration before they are said out loud and to make sure my 7 going on 17 fashionista is involved more in the outfit choosing process.
Oye! (Stop laughing Mom)

So to school she went!
My guess is that her teacher might have thought I was out of town or super sick and she was dressed by her daddy. (heehehe, love you Scottie) And I wish more than anything I would have taken a picture of her that morning, all bright and smiley full of sass and a whole lot of self confidence!

"homemade" school pictures

Due to having 2 kids in school this year and the $40+ price tag of the typical Lifetouch school pictures we opted for taking our own this year. So here are some of Ellie's I took and Connors are on their way.

Second Grade:

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