Disney Revealed

So we've held it in long enough! We warmed them up with a few random games of Hangman today and the last one was the "We are going to Disney World on Saturday!" Emmitt was shocked he got the words right and Parker cried. SO MUCH FUN! Cannot wait for our trip. I can finally pack the suitcases and talk about it and get excited with them!

Parker did follow up with, "what about the play?" I finally had to let him in on the secret that they all know they won't be there for the performance on Saturday and that's why they don't have any lines. Here I thought Emmitt would be totally bumming about missing his first play but they are both okay with skipping it for Disney.

Setting family goals has by far helped this whole process. These two have wanted this trip for quite awhile. Number one reason for waiting was money. Second reason was Emmitt needed to be 48" tall to fit in the rides! Well he hit 48" and then some this school year and they were all supportive every time I left them for an oil class or event. It was better for all of us that they knew why mom was "working oils."

So on Saturday we head out on a very early flight for 8 days of Mickey and friends!
#OlsonMagic2015

Happy Easter | 2015

Gorgeous Easter weekend celebrating with traditions. We dyed 3 dozen eggs and they were gone in a little over a week. They LOVE hard boiled eggs! Egg salad or just plain! 

Parker mastered the "ugly egg" this year perfectly! This is an Olson tradition that daddy brought to the family. He always combined the last of the colors to see if he could make a black/brown egg. This year we did!

This was the first year that silly bunny hid eggs outside. It was 11 degrees out and both boys had their Christmas jammies on! Emmitt was even in footie jammies!  

Another tradition is black jelly beans. We all love them! I ended up taking the leftover candy to work and I was surprised to see how many coworkers picked out and ate the black jelly beans too. You either love them or hate them..YUM!

I think they actually counted how many eggs they found...60 some a piece! LOTS of eggs and through out the week they would spot more! A few in a shoe or a drawer tucked away!

We headed out to Ray to Papa and Grandma's. It wouldn't be complete without a little more sugar! Mom made a lemon dessert with sticky frosting that was amazing! We had an egg hunt out there also. A little different and we all had to find 26 eggs, each with a letter of the alphabet on it. The "N" eluded us until Grandma called later to tell us she finally found it!

And since we got all dressed up it would be complete without Easter pics. I needed some newbies for the wall! Papa said it best, "they look so innocent here." When I was previously telling them to stop throwing rocks and whacking each other with sticks. The dirty knees show they were up to no good prior to the picture. Boys! Gotta love them.

On April 3rd we celebrated 18 years together. 18 years since our first date. It's been a crazy fun ride and I cannot imagine it with anyone else.

Oh Emmitt Jon...growing so tall and so fast! He truly hit a growth spurt this year and isn't much shorter than Parker. He's losing that baby look and beginning to look more and more like a big boy. His laugh still comes through in the pics. He has the BEST giggle and it comes freely. Don't ever stop little man.

And this one!? WHEN did he get so grown up looking. His hair is a daily battle with dad. I like it! He's made a deal with us...if he keeps it out of his face he can keep it long. There are mornings he needs to wet it down and has learned how to operate the blow dryer. While I was taking these pics my mom even told him he was "acting like a teenager." And she was right...some of his mannerisms and expressions were very grown up.

Christmas Scented Playdough!

So I'll be the first to admit I'm not a huge fan of Pinterest. I'm the best case scenario of the Pinterest fails. I have avoided that site for years because I have a tendency to try everything and I really don't have the time!! 

But I got suckered in with the Playdough that you can scent with oils! The recipe said peace and calming but I switched it up. I made one of our advent calendar activities Christmas scented Playdough. I let the boys pick the "flavors" and colors. I had mixed emotions about food coloring the dough so I at least had them wear rubber gloves when mixing!

Here is the recipe: (I quadrupled this to make 4 different options)

1/2 cup water

1 tablespoon vegetable oil 

1/2 cup flour

1/4 salt

2 teaspoons cream of tartar

Oils of your choice 

Food coloring (optional)

Mix all ingredients in a saucepan or stockpot until the batter is smooth. No lumps.

Place on the stove on medium heat and stir CONTINUOUSLY! (Like put your fitbit on this wrist and stir!). Your batter will start to form one big ball.

Remove from heat and let it cool enough to the touch. Form one ball and divide if you want to make multiple colors or scents.

Place each ball into a bowl and make a well in the middle. Drop your food coloring and oils in the well and then knead with your hands. (Wear rubber gloves if you add the dye!).

I let them pick the oils and colors. 

Red = Christmas Spirit

Blue = Believe

Black = Valor (Parker picked because of the black spruce)

Green = pine and peppermint

Yellow = Joy

Once mixed you are all ready to play! I busted out the Christmas cookie cutters for the boys and they loved it! It's been a couple of days and they are still making things for me! And the playdough smells amazing!! I wanted to take the Valor one to work with me!

This the season!

These handsome little men are all dressed up for their Christmas concerts at school. 

I had sent a picture from the store to Parker asking him to choose which color sweater vest. Red or Black. I attempted the Love and Logic reasoning and figured I would let him pick the color of vest but I still got a vest. 

Yeah well he wore it for the picture and agreed to Christmas church but other than that no way. He tossed it on the floor and said "I'm not wearing that in public." What ev. I was not going to fight about it and I still get to show the world how cute they both are in their sweater vests! Mom wins.