This New thing I Call a Hobby

So I know a long long time ago I mentioned that I had a new hobby I really really was enjoying. Many of you have asked what it is and want to see what this new hobby of mine is. So here we go! It is ceramics. The moose that I made for Starr for Christmas started it all. I really enjoyed it. It was nice to get away from home and meet some new really neat and fun people. And of course there were so many things I saw in the shop that I wanted. One of everything please, except the dolls, those are creepy!

I finished Starr's Moose and moved onto the next project. This adorable penguin!

I finished this in Marchish. Then  I started on This wonderful project and am almost finished! It is for a Christmas present. Those are the only details I can Divulge at this time!

The Purple one isn't quite finished. You basically start out with a piece of greenware (I think that is the proper term) that is super fragile! you clean it up and get all the seams from the molds off. Then Gorgiene, this sweet old lady fires it for me and the next week you are ready to paint! Gorgiene makes all of these herself and is so amazing! I am almost  done with this project and can't wait to start another one! I think I may need something else to go with my penguin! I know it's just painting something and doesn't take too much creativity, but I really enjoy it, it's just artistic enough for me to handle!

So there you have, my new hobby!

Ryan Vaden Olsen

Vaden came to our house just six days after he was born for a visit. Starr helped us install a new stove and dishwasher in the house we are living in. Micah was so sweet and soft with him...For about 2 minutes then he was done, he wanted to go outside and play. Good thing someone was there to catch Vaden when he decided to scoop him off his lap!

 Kisses for baby Vaden

Cute cousins!

I couldn't help posting this one of the cousins! They were eating their 'free' pizza' You see we ordered 3 pizzas and an order of breadsticks for dinner When Starr and Erin's family came over and I got a call from the delivery guy asking if he was at the right address-He was at our old apartment.(after I had confirmed with the guy taking my order that he made a note we had moved and made him repeat the new address twice) So I gave him directions to the new place. He showed up just as Mike and Starr were leaving to get the new stove and dishwasher from Sears. I saw him talking out there with the delivery boy for a while they were laughing then he got in his car and left. Strange.



I went out to see what was going on. Apparently he left the pizza bag on top of his car when he left our old place and the pizzas flew off. Bummer! I was hungry! So I called the pizza place to explain the situation and we ended up with a free order of pizza that night! Looking back, it really is kind of funny. We were all worried that the delivery guy would lose his job, but not to worry, I saw him out there the other day and I even think he recognized the big white truck I was in because he smiled and waved at me real big!

Easter 2012

Well at two years old I have decided Little Man wasn't much into Easter. He went to grandma's house with Payton and Taylor and colored easter eggs. Well Taylor and Grandma colored easter eggs from what I hear. When it came time to find the eggs, he wasn't much into that either. He did get excited when he opened the plastic ones and found candy inside them. He'd pocket the candy and throw the empty egg to the side. What good is an empty egg with no candy anyway? Here are a few snapshots from the spledid beautiful easter day! It's a good thing there is more to Easter than the Easter bunny!



Little Man is 2? What?

Well, news on the home front is that I haven't posted in a long time. But I guess you knew that! But the good news is that I have internet at home now, so sometime in between finding time to play with Little Man after work, Clean my now enormous house (more on that later) and getting back into running I should have time to post more right? I guess we will see.

Last month as you all know my Little Man turned two! I know it's hard for me to believe too, but it's true! We overcame a huge hurtle before his second birthday-he got POTTY TRAINED!!!! Thanks to the huge help from my mom and my niece who cleaned up mess after mess while I was at work, and kept him in his tighty whitey's I can officially say he was potty trained before he was two..but barely! It was definately a long hard couple of weeks for me and I don't know what I would have done without my mom. She is a lifesaver, if it weren't for her Micah would probably be in diapers still. She has much more patience than me. All in all potty training was a success and he caught on much much quicker than I had even imagined (even though I wish it was even quicker, I know I need more patience) He is even staying dry at night. He does have an accident now and then, but what busy kid doesn't after all, it's much more fun to play outside in the enormous backyard than to come in for five seconds to go to the bathroom. I am sure we have all been there at least once in our lives.

Now the next hurdle we need to overcome is sleeping through the night. Yes you heard it, I have a two year old who doesn't sleep through the night. What have I done wrong, I thought I was the perfect parent who would have a child sleeping through the night at 3 month old! HA HA he did go through phases of sleeping through the night, but alas they didn't last. Any pointers from all you veteraned mommies out there?

But anyway, here are some pictures from his 2nd birthday party. We were lame and didn't have a huge party for him with all the family like we did for his first, but it was a nice small gathering with Mike and my niece Kylie and I. We enjoyed ourselves and lost patience waiting for Little Man to so delicately open his presents. Come on! Rip those suckers open!

 CHEESE!

Yes, My son adorable!

Christmas Day!

I think this was one of my most favorite Christmas' of all time! Here's why:
I got to celebrate with my wonderful little family.
I got to watch Little Man really get into the holiday for the first time.
I saved up all my money all year long and was finally able to buy Mike a new snowboard.
Even if I didn't unwrap one single thing I would have gotten everything I wanted for Christmas.
Christmas was on Sunday and we really got to remember the real reason for the season.

Those are just a few, I could go on and on, but I won't. So the reason I was so excited for this Christmas was because I have wanted to get Mike a new snowboard for a couple of years. For those of you who don't snowboard. It is a very expensive sport. Especially if you ride at the leve of Mike. You can't just get any board. Well, I was determined that this would be the year he would get it. No matter what. Well things weren't looking to well in October, I had barely saved enough money to by him half a board. Then things just started happening, I got money in the mail to watch tv and fill out journal of what I watched, friends and family were calling me wanting designs and landscape advice, and they paid me for it! All of the sudden I was so close to getting this board! So close, but not close enough. I didn't know what I was going to do. Then my bonus at work came! CHA CHING! There it was, the rest of what I needed plus some left over!
I immediately went over to the store to order his board (and hope they could get it here before Christmas) While I am there Mike sends me a text and it  says, you know, I really don't want anything for Christmas except some new snowboard boots. Crap. I didn't even think of that. There goes the left over bonus money. So I ordered boots and the board and his parents got the bindings for him.
I still wanted the board to be a surprise, so on Christmas at my house all he did was open the boots and the few other things I had gotten him. Then later that night when we went to his parents house to open gifts. He opened his bindings. Still no sign of board. I waited until everyone had opened all of there presents and then Mike's dad went and put his board at the end of the hallway. He was shocked! I love that I was able to keep a secret like that from him because normally I can't! It was so fun to see his face! He has worked so hard in school and made so many sacrifices. He really deserved this!
Well, enough talking, here are some photos from the BEST CHRISTMAS EVER!

He went straight for the books he got last night from Grandma and Grandpa

Our pretty little tree

Little Man got a dog guitar from Grandma & Grandpa!

I got a new pot set! Awesome!

Kylie got a concert ticket to Brad Paisely & Scotty McCreery too!

 Little Man got spoiled!

 New hat check, new boots check, new bindings check.

 New Board Check!

Seeing his board for the first time!

Christmas Eve

New goggles! I can't wait to try them!

TJ was Sant's Helper this year! She did well! 

 Dad will always be happy as long as he gets his pistachios!

 This was really cool! Brandi Made it out of horseshoes

 Little Man getting lots of books from Grandma and Grandpa!

 Everyone LOVES uncle Shane!

 Mike got a belt buckle and a phone case made by my dad.

 Butter! There seemed to be lots of butter gifts this year!

 I wish I could have flipped this, I made this for Starr. Its my new hobby my mom got me into. I will post more pictures in a different post.

The girls all got matching dresses!

We celebrated Christmas as a family on Christmas Eve. As always we had lots of good food made by mom and lots of fun with the family. Leslie was sick and didn't make it and Ira and Brandi couldn't make it either. They were really missed. Hopefully we can all be together next Christmas. I love this time of year and spending time with family, we didn't do much, but we had a fun time. The kids really enjoy playing together.

I am grateful for my family and all we do for each other. Christmas time is such a wonderful time of year to reflect on our lives and remember Christ, not only his birth, but the sacrifice he made so our families can be together forever. I am grateful to be a part of an eternal family. Merry Christmas everyone!