Preschool graduation

I didn't think this was going to be that big of a deal because preschool is just a big fun party. But when I saw how excited Anna has been this week it suddenly became a big deal to me too. We got her the cutest dress and she was so excited to wear it! Thanks to Daddy, Brit, and Mommer for coming, the look on Anna's face up on the stage when she saw everyone was just pure excitement and happiness. The kids sang some songs and then got their "diploma" or as her teacher said, "your ticket to kindergarten". She went to Miss Christi for 2 years and just loves her! She is so ready for next year, she LOVES to write and is starting to read. I also wanted to throw in a picture of Anna and her freaky-bendy thumb. This girl is so flexible and double jointed everywhere. We first noticed it when she started to crawl and her elbows would bend out! And a funny story today, we were at Mervyns with my mom and Brit's kids in the toy section. Halle (cousin) saw an African American barbie and said, "Oh look! That one has a brown face like Anna!". Anna was born tan, I don't know what her deal is. Everybody thinks it's because of a tanning bed or the milkman. But she is brown all year round, bum and all! I think it's hilarious that cute little Halle will say, "I'm bright and Anna is brown". Kids are so funny. At graduation... Halle and Anna


WE LOVE YOU ANNA!

more wildlife adventures today!

A few hours after this rattlesnake encounter (see below), I was helping my dad load up some stuff in his car and I saw a big whiptail lizard run across our front porch, leap onto my house, and scale across the stucco before falling down to the porch again. Thanks to my dad and his decades of lizard catching experience (a lot of lizard catching going on with 5 boys growing up), we chased him a little while and cornered him down by the doorway. My mom unknowingly opened the door and the lizard ran into the house. The kids (I also had my sisters 3 kids) went crazy as the lizard ran across the tile (he look kind of like a cartoon character ya know-with his feet going very fast in circles, but not getting anywhere). Well, the lizard finally got behind some furniture and my Dad caught it. I had a video clip of this but I'm having problems uploading it. In the video the lizard bites David... he was pretty excited about that. So this story continues, we stuck the lizard in a garbage pail in the garage. I felt kind of bad because it's where we put the not-so-nice diapers, so I'm sure he was loving breathing in that air. Anyways, I went back in the garage to check on him and I heard scratching coming from a box, I grabbed a flashlight and sure enough it was ANOTHER whiptail, same size, same everything! Strange! To make a long story short, I finagled this lizard (because I won't touch them) into the diaper pail and then we had two! This evening, we let them go together on our front porch to live a free life. The snake wasn't so lucky. What a WEIRD day at the Olson house. (see past wildlife encounters we've had in our front and back yard on the slideshow at the bottom)

Viewer discretion is advised part 2

This is ridiculous-WHY has this happened to us 3 TIMES!!! So this morning around 6:30, Jay and I were loading our couch onto his truck to take to my sister who is moving today. The kids were out there with us, shoes off and all (bad idea). Our nice neighbor (the one that killed our first snake) came over and we were just talking out in the dirt while the kids threw rocks and ran around. He asked us if we've seen any rattlesnakes since our last one a month ago and literally 30 seconds later, Anna starts screaming and flipping out and runs into the house. We thought it was just a bug she saw, but nope....a baby rattlesnake!!! She was screaming, "A snake, a snake! I stepped on it!" I can't believe that the whole time we were standing there (facing away from the house) it was behind us slithering in the dirt RIGHT next to our porch. Anna was just walking to get in the house and she saw it. I don't know if she really stepped on it, but she later claimed it's tonge touched her foot? AAAAHHH AAAAAAH AAAAAH AAAAAH I am still shaking--those baby rattlesnakes are deadly! We are REALLY counting our blessings today. Jay had the nerve to ask if we could keep it. I told him he was crazy so he came to the rescue and chopped it's head off. Poor Anna, no five year old should encounter 2 rattlesnakes, no adult for that matter. The very first one was last fall, and Jay's mom was dropping her off from preschool. She rang the doorbell, and I answered it but she was running away yelling, "SNAKE!" and there it was curled up against our front door asleep! So that one and the 2nd one were huge diamondbacks (scroll down to the first "viewer discretion is advised" to see the 2nd one). Seriously how often does this happen to people , I guess we're crazy people who live in the desert. Here are some pictures, I wish I would've gotten video...

Going in for the kill...After it was off, the head kinda jumped off the ground twice and tried to strike, mouth wide open and all...

some things I appreciate

So it's been a crazy week! Instead of a nice date night out on our anniversary we got colds, coughs, ear infections, the nasty D word, and puke from the kids. So Jay improvised and saved my day by getting some flowers, ice cream, and renting I am Legend- it ended up being a nice quiet evening at home. Well not that nice and quiet, that movie really freaked me out. And I'm DYING for Thursday night's Office finale!! Will Jim propose?
Some thoughts about the kids recently...I find myself getting frustrated easily lately, so I thought it's time for me to remember the things I appreciate about them. My kids are the world to me and there is nowhere else I'd rather be than with them!
David (even though you've had a lot of "Why? just because" moments lately)

1. For being a big sweetheart, the smiles, cuddling, and hugs.

2. When 7 pm rolls around, you are off down the hallway to your room and into your covers telling us "I wanna go ni-night!"

3. For your beautiful serenades throughout my day, no matter where we're at (home, car or store). The most popular being I'm trying to be like Jesus, ABC's, I've been dreaming of a true love's kiss, and "dat's how you knooooow, he lub-yoooo..."

4. The other day it just struck me as so funny when you yelled "aaah-yooo-da-may, aaah-yooo-da -may!!!" while you were pretending to fall as you slid off our bed. (spanish for help, thanks to Diego)

Kate

1. For running to me with your arms wide open and a huge smile on your face. Thank you for those sweet hugs with a pat on the back... :)

2. For the big smile, "hiiiiii!", and crazy jumping every time I get you out of your crib. You cheer up my mornings in a huge way.

Anna

1. For taking up the chore of sweeping all the time without me even asking. It may take you a whole half-hour, but you do a very thorough job at cleaning it all up (even under furniture!). You have no idea how much that helps!

2. For being the tattle-tale. Thanks for keeping me informed.

3. For helping with your siblings. There have been times when I've been busy doing something and Kate is following me around, crying or just sad. Then, a little while later I realize you have put her in her seat, buckled her, put the tray on, and given her a little snack all by yourself. You are on top of things better then me. Thanks cutie.

May 13th, 2000

I just wanted to share a little about this day...8 years and 3 kids ago. I will always remember that I had a blast on my wedding day - thanks to a lot of support and help, both families made our wedding day the best day ever! The temple was a great experience for us and the reception was perfect! I was so happy and excited to marry Jay...to this day, he has remained my best friend because I still think he is so funny and so good to me. He can always get me to crack up, even at the smallest things. And man is he still tall, dark, and handsome!! I couldn't have asked for a better daddy to our little cuties, he is so sweet with them. David walks around the house and grocery store singing/yelling, "That's how you know, that's how you know..." from Enchanted. The kids know Daddy loves them because he cuddles, wrestles, and takes them out to spend time together. I know Jay loves me because he offers constant support, makes my job as a mom easier, listens, and keeps me focused and motivated on my bad days. One of the many reasons I fell in love with Jay was because we wanted the same things for us and our family, and that is so important to me. Now we look forward to many more years of fun times with each other and our kids. Happy Anniversary Jay- love you! dating...

engagement... wedding...
I couldn't find this song to download anywhere, but...This is a special song in my family- it was sung at my Dad's parent's wedding, my mom and dad's wedding, and then at our wedding by my dad, his mom, and his sisters. My dad also has sung it on little occasions to my mom. This song reminds me of the love that came before me and helps me remember that the little things are most important!

I'm 18 months!

Survival Guide For 18 Months-Olds
By: Kate Olson
1. Learn to develop an extremely loud and instant scream. You want to disable your siblings so that you can keep the toy you have, get the toy you want, or just get them in trouble for fun.
2. The garbage can is where you can salvage some great stuff to nibble on or to dispense of a toy just because you can.
3. If you really REALLY want to get on your mom's nerves, toilets are a great place to take a little dip either for yourself or for another object. Always be on the lookout for the open door and make a mad dash when the opportunity presents itself. Watch out for siblings that have a problem remembering to flush.

4. When climbing, never be satisfied until you have reached the highest point possible.

5. Your finger is the same diameter as your nostril...what a coincidence!
6. Win your daddy's heart every evening with a huge welcome home "Dadddd-eeeee!!" and a big hug.
7. To get attention-be as goofy, silly, and cute as you can be. Put a little waddle in that diapered booty and you'll get all the attention every time.

Father and Sons weekend

I was excited for this weekend to come so that I could spend some time with the girls and David and Jay could finally go on their 2nd annual F&S together. David was coming down with a cold so he had a little bit of a rough time up there. Some of the hikiing and bug catching that was planned had to be postponed. He did sleep good all night for Jay, but had a hard time going to sleep and cried I guess. They still had some fun times yet they were both happy to get home! So on to the girl stuff...we left Friday morning (same time as the boys) and hung out all day, mostly at the mall and running some errands. I have to say it was nice having just the two that are easy for that kind of stuff right now...sorry David but it's just the truth. Anna had fun getting some things at Claires and picking out a new shirt. We rode the new double decker carousel and ate Anna's absolute favorite- Panda. She could eat noodles and mandarin chicken all day! After our long day we got home, ate dinner, painted nails, did hair, and then took turns putting little girl makeup on each other (scary picture of me by the way). Then we pigged out on ice cream and watched Hairspray. It was the only movie I could think of that we hadn't seen yet, and I was kinda dissapointed. Truthfully, I was so tired of all the dancing, singing and butt grabbing by the end. I usually love stuff like this (the singing not the grabbing), but it all got really annoying
<----just like this picture uuuhh. Why all the hype?

Anna liked it , but it wasn't totally captiving to her. She was just excited because Prince edward and Troy were in it. The next morning we went to breakfast and got Anna's haircut. All in all it was a really fun weekend!

Of course she found the pink horse!

Kate wasn't sure about it...

We took a 15 minute break at this massage chair. Aaah..so nice.