Multitude Monday #4

Multitude Monday is about intentionally fixing my eyes on God's blessings, big and small, whatever the season, whether life is good or the road has been rocky.

Here is my continuation from last Multitude Monday.

31. Weekend Visits from Long-time friends... This weekend we were blessed by a visit by the Boggs family. It was a great time of just being together. Our hearts are full.

32. Levi... Hannah's special friend. When he first came in they flew into each other's arms for a BIG HUG. It was the sweetest thing ever. They played great (and fought a little) all weekend. My little girl is very sad tonight as she had to say goodbye.

33. Eve... a precious little girl who has stolen our hearts again and we have only "met" her 2 times in her almost 1 year old life. Grace LOVED crawling around after her. I think Eve really enjoyed chasing Grace as well. I think there might be a budding friendship there.

34. Derek... A man after God's Own Heart. It was wonderful to hear how God is working through him in Princeton. As sad as we were to see our friends move, we are beyond certain that God has placed them, and Derek especially, right where He wants them.

35. Jessica... Our friendship continues to grow as we navigate these waters of being wives and mothers. She has wonderful listening spirit, asks great questions, and is someone who I appreciate hearing her wisdom. She is a great friend and I'm thankful that our friendship is one that continue to grow despite the distance.

36. Our Church... the service today was great, full of love and the presence of God. This community has so reached out and loved our family, I'm so glad God has called us here to give back as well.

37. Birthdays... We celebrated Grace's birthday this weekend and it was fun to watch her tell everyone about blowing out the candles on her cake. Daddy did a great job!

38. Good food and fellowship... We had a great afternoon sharing food and fellowship with some of our church family.

39. Books that make you think... I've been reading the book called There is No Me Without You, by Melissa Fay Greene. It is a book about one woman's answer to the orphan crisis in Africa. Wow. It is really challenging my thoughts and perspectives. I will need to put some of those into a blog post at some point.

Grace is 2!

A full year has FLOWN by and now my baby girl is 2 years old. I can hardly believe it and yet it seems like she turned 2 about the time her little sister, Elizabeth, was born. Little Gracie had to grow up fast and she seems to be taking it all in stride. Gracie may not have a lot of words, but she can DEFINITELY get her point across.

Gracie, you are my precious middle daughter and I love you SO MUCH. You...

• Know how to get mommy's attention, first thing in the morning and ALL DAY... MAMA!
• Love making your baby sister laugh and often do it in ways Elizabeth adores, but makes mommy nervous (spinning her around and around in the exersaucer, laying on top of her, yelling in her face).
• Are developing a love for music... it comes out through singing (you especially love doing this with the microphone at church) and playing various instruments at home. We understand what you are singing sometimes (Ba Ba Black Sheep, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Row Row Row Your Boat)
• Are doing better about not biting..., but when you get frustrated at your sister, this is how you tell her.
• Are learning more words, but often times you tell us what you want through a game of charades!
• Love your snacks... this is the first thing you ask for when you get to the church nursery or to the babysitting room.
• Enjoy playing with your older sister, Hannah, more and more every day.
• Like to climb and go down slides. You always do this "one more time."
• Love the swing and probably would stay there all day if mommy would keep doing "under dogs."
• Like to pray before dinner, it goes something like this "Aaaa... dabadoo... mama... dadda. dabadoo... uh oh... A-M." You usually want to go first and will squeal at Hannah on the days it is her turn to go first.
• Love to try to keep up with the big kids... in your own way, somehow you get them to do what you want to.
• LOVE LOVE LOVE your sleep sack. Did I say you LOVE LOVE LOVE it? LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE
• Really enjoy naptime. This makes mommy and daddy very happy.
• At night, you always want one more book, which you precede to stack in your bed in the corner. Every couple days, mommy needs to pull them out, so they don't fall on you in your sleep.
• Are an introvert and mommy can tell when you have been around too many people for too long.
• Your name for yourself is "I-ya."

Your laugh and smile light up our lives.

Cheese!

Happy Birthday, Gracie!

Love,

Mommy, Daddy, Hannah and Elizabeth 

Transitions

It is silly... I know... it "just" preschool and only 2 mornings a week, but I'm feeling a little weepy. My oldest daughter will be starting school in just over 3 weeks! Orientation and classroom visits are only 2 weeks away. I got an email from the nursery school director yesterday just giving us details about the start of school. It choked me up! Sigh... it is going to be ok. Right?

Multitude Monday #3

Multitude Monday is about intentionally fixing my eyes on God's blessings, big and small, whatever the season, whether life is good or the road has been rocky.

Here is my continuation from last Multitude Monday.

18. The imagination of my eldest daughter and the developing imagination of my middle daughter. They have started playing "restaurant" with Daryl and I. Hannah comes up with the funniest names of food and Gracie follows right along.

19. Family vacations I wasn't sure how this would go, but as you can read from this post we had a really great time. It is important for the whole family to have a change of pace.

20. Coming home, even after a great vacation, it is good to come home and get back into a regular routine.

21. Northshore Parks and Playgrounds Last week we enjoyed our days at 4 different playgrounds. They were each great for different reasons.

22.  Friends new and old... we were able to connect with several different sets of friends at the various parks last week. Hannah is especially good at making friends with whoever may be playing at the park. I could learn a lot from her.

23. Good example of exercise set by Daryl. I love his enthusiasm for exercise and trust we both set that example for our girls. Hannah and Grace both enjoy getting outside and I hope to encourage that as they grow older.

24. Completion of the Gloucester Triathlon... for more details, see here.

25. New recipes... although recently I have felt in a bit of a rut with my cooking, I enjoy learning new recipes. I'm especially thankful for all the work my cousin, Krista, puts into developing recipes. I have definitely taken advantage of that.

26. New challenges... especially when I get a chance to think through ideas with other people. I enjoy a chance to grow.

27. The prayers of children Hannah asked the other night how to God to be in her heart. It was precious. The next day she prayed with Grace. Lord, help Daryl and I to guide her in your ways through our own lives seeking after you. May she seek your Spirit's guidance each day. Grace likes to pray before meals... I wish I could record her prayer. It is very sweet and I'm sure God knows what she is saying.

28. Community of Believers I so appreciate the church where God has placed us. It is a great place to learn, grow and serve. I love how this community has embraced our children.

29. Dancing girls and Giggling babies I know I have said laughter before, but this is specific to Hannah and Grace dancing around Elizabeth in her exersaucer. Elizabeth laughs and laughs and laughs, so of course Hannah and Grace keep doing it.

30. Finding Cloud shapes with Hannah... that's what she is doing now. I think I'll join her.

Gloucester Fisherman Triathlon

Today was the day of Daryl's race and we woke up to POURING down rain and LOTS OF wind. When Daryl went down to drop off all his gear, he noticed that there were WHITE CAPS in the harbor. Not an exciting prospect for a new swimmer, but he was committed. At just before 7, Daryl called (the girls and I were just heading out the door) and told us it was miserable and not to bother coming. The girls were so excited that I decided to head off for an adventure in the rain. We found a place to park the car along the boulevard in a great location to watch the bikers go by and settled in to watch from the van.

I was disappointed not to see the start of the swim, so I got out of the van and caught a glimpse of the swimmers heading into the water at the "GO GO GO" of the announcer. (Thank goodness the wind died down just before the race started. It is never good when even the kayakers are nervous about getting in the water!)

My heart was pounding when I knew Daryl was heading into the water. I found at later... his was too! But he did great and the next thing we knew we caught a glimpse of him sailing by us on his bike. Yeah, daddy!

The rain stopped (briefly) so I loaded the girls into the stroller and walked down the street a bit to see the riders coming around on their second lap. There was daddy and he was smiling!

After that (the rain stopping and starting and stopping and starting) we walked down the boulevard to the transition area. We were SOAKED, but Elizabeth decided it was a great time for a nap.

Here comes daddy into the transition area do prepare for the final leg of the race. Grace was SO EXCITED to see him. I think this was probably the first time she actually saw him.

There he goes on the final leg of his race... the 5K. He said that he had some major jelly legs after getting off his bike. After Grace saw him run by, she started crying "daddy, daddy." I think she thought he would stop.

We walked the final distance to the finish line. "Daryl Olson from Gloucester, MA" the announcer shouted and there he was... finishing just around 1 hour and 30 minutes. YEAH DADDY!

Daryl did great and we are SO PROUD of him.

Family Vacation 2011

We were given a wonderful gift of a family vacation in New Hampshire... lodging on a lake, a week of relaxing, and a crazy, but fun trip to Storyland. I think we all had a great time, but I especially enjoyed the time away. I ACTUALLY got to read a book!?!?

Highlights of the trip

• Elizabeth turning 5 months old
• boat rides: motor, paddle, row
• building sand castles
• all meals outside
• Cinderella
• driving the Antique Cars (a favorite from MY childhood)
• exploring Storyland
• sleeping in... well, kind of
• just getting away

Folks, she's 5 months old

Grace from the black lagoon lake

Hannah met Cinderella ("Mommy, was she the REAL one or just pretend?" How do you answer that?)

 For more pictures of our trip, check out the picasa slide show.

Multitude Monday #2

Multitude Monday is about intentionally fixing my eyes on God's blessings, big and small, whatever the season, whether life is good or the road has been rocky.

Here is my continuation from last Monday.

11. Good conversations long overdue... It was just good to sit and talk with my husband tonight. One of the things that drew me to Daryl early on was simply being able to talk to him. We needed to do that again tonight and it was good.

12. Thunderstorms I really enjoy hearing the distant rumble of a storm coming. The flashing and crashing of the lightning and thunder bring my children scrambling to my lap. Cuddling with my children adds to the enjoyment of a storm.

13. Cooler temperatures after a storm I think this is the other reason I enjoy thunderstorms... they bring the hope and possibility of a brake in the heat/humidity of the day.

14. Memories brought to life in photos One thing I love doing whether I am at my parents' house, my in-laws' house or my own attic is going through old picture albums. It is fun "discovering" again a picture I had forgotten or catching a glimpse of Daryl's childhood. We give Mom Olson a hard time for taking so many pictures, yet I think we all enjoy looking at them.

15. Clean laundry, especially when I didn't have to do it myself. Daryl is home with the girls on Mondays and he has taken it on himself to do a lot of the laundry. It is so nice to leave the house with a pile of dirty laundry and come home to it being folded and put away. Thanks, honey!

16. Reunions with old friends... facebook has made it possible to reconnect with people I met in Jr. High! It is fun to see where they are and what they are doing.

17. Bedtime... enough said.