There are some things in life that you just take for granted. Unfortunately family is often one of those things.

Praise the Lord that my husband has been home with us for almost 2 years solid. I can't even begin to explain how amazing this is.

Here are a few pics from today (First two taken by my amazing friend) that capture the heart of how big of a blessing my family of four is to me.

 

 These are from the awesome new camera my hubby surprised me with today!

What a way to end our day :)

Blessed blessed blessed. Thank you God.

Blueberry season

Is officially here!  We were given the privilege of an impromptu pre-season pick the day before Barventa Farms opened to the public.  Love that place and love those berries! Doesn't hurt that I was in good company either!

 

Love this happy camper and his stylish hat!

 

  

 

 She's a pro! We like the berries a little tangy, so this is the perfect season for us!

 

Thanks

We learn a lot from our parents, a lot about how to act in specific relationships. Some people learn what they do NOT want to do, in their marriage, in their parenting. But some of us are lucky; we learn what to do right. We learn what's important in a marriage, and we learn what is loving in parenting. I'm one of those people. When I look back on my childhood and my (ever-growing) relationships with my parents, it's so much clearer as a grown up to see the good they did and the hard work they put in. The sacrifices, the compromises, the discipline, the tears, the trials, the refining and the encouraging.

We've been trying to get healthy over here in my house. We started on Advocare and are really enjoying it. Hand in hand with our new vitamins and supplements is healthy eating. Rice cakes, rice crackers, rice chips, natural peanut butter, reading labels, gluten free (or trying) items, etc. I remember as a kid, my brother had a HUGE sensitivity to artificial flavors, colors and preservatives. My mom worked so hard to still find delicious and yummy snacks and food for us. She was way ahead of the pack when it came to health food. I remember snacking on rice cakes, I remember fruit LEATHERS-not fruit snacks, I remember homemade EVERYTHING- do you know how time consuming that it? Making sure my brother had a special treat every time a kid brought in cupcakes at school. Bringing fresh fruit as a snack for soccer games, even when we begged for Doritos and Capri suns. She did this because she cared. And because we were a priority. Our HEALTH was a priority to her. Thank you, mom.

See that table?

It may not be anything special to you, but it is to me. To me, that table is where I sat night after night with my dad. Using super cool mechanical pencils he brought home from work as he tried to help math make sense to me. I remember he did every single problem with me. We had two sets of paper and he sat tirelessly with me explaining the same concepts over and over. If you look REALLY closely at the table, you'll probably see some of those problems etched in the wood. He also taught me to put a book under my paper :) Dad, I still am no good at math, but you taught me so much. I know it wasn’t easy to sit there and be patient and repeat yourself over and over, but you did it anyway. Thank you for your dedication and for your time.

My parents worked through so much. They worked through moving 10 hours from any family. Then they worked through the 10 hour drive in one weekend with two kids to get back home and not miss important events. They worked through long hours/night shift at work. They worked through my awful temper tantrums as a 5 year old, swallowing their pride and going to a therapist for me because it was what I needed. They worked through the inconvenience of living 45 minutes from our parish and still took us to mass every Sunday, CCD every week, and volunteer projects constantly. They worked through cancelled vacations and constantly changing schedules to be at every game, concert, performance and important event so my brother and I always had a fan in the stands. They worked their butts off to build the house of their dreams and then sold it so they could send us to a great high school and move closer so our drive was safer. My parents aren’t perfect…they’re parents. But they laid a pretty amazing foundation for my brother and I to build on. They worked to love each and to love us every day. And really, what more can you ask for?

I love this song. It's written/performed by an old family friend and I used to love listening to it with my parents. My mom still waves everytime we leave...

Thanks

Thanks for keepin' track of me
Thanks for givin' a dang about me
Thanks for sayin' that You love me
Thanks, just thanks

Thanks for lettin' me know You care
Thanks for always bein' there
Thanks for making me do my share
Thanks, just thanks

Can't thank You enough
I'm high from You liftin' me up

Thanks for sayin' what You said
Thanks for clearin' out my head
Thanks for givin' me hope instead
Thanks, just thanks

Thanks You left me who I was
Thanks You showed me what a smile does
Thanks You loved me just because
Thanks, just thanks

Thanks for cryin' when I bleed
Thanks for wavin' when I leave
Thanks for bein' what I believe
Thanks, just thanks

Just Add in a Little Sunshine

Amazing how wonderful a regular day can become when you just add in a little sunshine...

Hyde Park had a sidewalk chalk festival..just like in Mary Poppins. ON the way there Gabbi asked, "Mommy, do we get to jump into the pictures?!"


Graffiti on the walls

Kermit

This little man sat UP in the stroller for the first time!

Super cool facepaints

Blessed to live in Tampa

One more trip to see Reba

He loves being outside

Going on a walk with Daddy...it's the little things!


I must have ALL the toys

Discovering dandelions

She picked out her own socks :)

He was pleased to join us on our walk too!

Ok so this one isnt outside, but it just made me so happy!

Artsy Chick

I've been trying to do some hands on projects with Gabbi to get her away from the TV but also to try and practice her letter recognition. I saw this idea on Pinterest. Just washable fingerpaints in a baggie taped to a window. Best part=NO MESS!

I let her just play for a while and then we drew/traced a few letters...

We get Highlights' High Five magazine every month as a gift from Ma and Pa. There are a few things that are still a little old for Gabbi but this last issue, we turned to a story and circled the G's, B's, and D's with different color pens. She was really great at it. And they had a cute craft to do. All you need is tissue paper cut into squares, some sticks, a mason jar or something similar, and some twistee ties. We were supposed to use yellow tissue paper so it looked like forsythia-my FAVE-but all i had was red....

Cute little center piece!

And Gabbi started drawing people. I love it. When I woke up on Sunday, she had drawn these three. So I framed them for her room. Look closely, she adds a belly button to each person :)

Daddy's Home!

Oh hey there, it's been a while, huh? Funny how having daddy home sometimes means having less time on your hands :) Nonetheless, we are THRILLED!

B was able to come home a night early, so I woke the kiddos up and drove to the airport with them in their jammies to pick up daddy. You would have thought we were going to the Oscars. Gabbi had to tell everyone what she was wearing and she was a chatterbox the whole way to the airport- even at 10:00 at night. We got B and packed up the car and headed home. But not without tears. That's right. My sweet 3 year old with such a big heart sat in her car seat with tears streaming down her face. When we asked her what was wrong, she answered, "I'm just so happy you're home safe, daddy!" That girl is so special.

She and her brother spent the next 24-48 hours STARING at their daddy, almost checking if this was for real.

It was pretty sweet.


Brent apparently also wanted to make sure B had plenty of kisses :)

After that we had a week full of car drama that's not even worth talking about because the Lord will provide! But man does a week go by fast :)

Around the same time Daddy came home our old friends from NC came into town to visit. We haven't seen them in almost 3 years...can you believe it? One amazing blessing of the military is you end up with friends all over the nation and you never know when your paths will cross again. Gabbi and Sammy were instant friends when we met back in NC. Check out these old pics!

Sam caught Gabbi's eye early on :)

Look at these two now!

They had a BLAST together!

Here's one of all the kids- I'm telling you, that Jack is as sweet as sugar! He's just precious!


We even got a formal invitation from Sammy to visit him at his "yellow house" someday. We had so much fun together, I would LOVE to make it out to the famous yellow house in Colorado!

We've been doing the 24 Day Challenge here in the Olsen household. Can I just tell you that I feel amazing? 10 day cleanse of being Dairy free, wheat free, salt free, sugar free, and alcohol free. I have to say I even notice a change in my little man! Very excited about Advocare and the path the Lord is leading us on with them. Point is, we've been eating healthier and I found a super yummy recipe on Pinterest (of course I did) for Baked balsamic green beans with mushrooms. You know me, I'm not good at following recipes, so I didn't measure anything and I just used olive oil, balsamic, half a lemon and some ground pepper. It was perfect with Salmon and brown rice. So Gabbi helped me snap the green beans, just like I used to do with my mom.


We even taste tested a few and it brought me back to being 5 years old, outside in the garden with mom in MI. I love where memories lead you....

No after picture...maybe because I was SO excited to eat them?! They were amazing!
I think that's all the excitement here for now :) Thanks for listening!