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.

Make & Take | Hockey Mom Style

Let's face it...no matter what age your hockey player is, they STINK! Their gloves stink after the first week of practice when they are four! 

So we hockey moms came together and busted out some AMAZING recipes!

 These hockey bag balls are amazing for taking the smell out of the bag. And of COURSE they are going to play with them in a game of shinny! But they are TIME consuming! I would loved to have budgeted wool dryer balls and just given everyone them, but the Bronco colors were a must and the skeins of yarn were only $6 each. Just LOTS and lots of time went into them! Either way, just a drop or two of purification oil on the ball and toss it in the bag!

 Bag spray is a MUST! I typically only spray it down after a tourney weekend and always at the end of the season. I have backed down on the baking soda a little, but if you see white dots all over the gear, just dust them off. YUM!

 LOVE the detergent. I do not dilute it. I have boys and tough stains so I keep it straight up and wash all of our laundry in this mixture. The whole 5 gallon pail costs like $10! WAY cheaper than the Natural Detergent I was forking over a ton of money for!

 So I tossed up making "So Sore" or "Relax Momma" bombs. We ended up making both the night of the party. For the relax I used Orange, Ylang Ylang, and Lavender. The first two are for libido too :) but it is an amazing mixture! These take awhile to set, so make them first if you have a make & take. Store in an air tight container. And baggies will expand if you store them in there!

 Mimics the bath bombs. Valor, Panaway and Peppermint are AWESOMESAUCE for pain! Lemongrass has a strong smell, but everyone wanted it in the cream, so we went for it! 

 Last but not least, the BEST recipe for hand sanitizer! It's smooth and moisturizing! And smells amazing! And my boys love it best because it doesn't sting! I've made little containers for them to keep in their desk and school bags!

A Day 25 miles out on the Ice

We actually had a weekend with no hockey this winter and headed out fishing. Amazing day on the ice with my boys! We were up and out the door by 5 a.m. and to the lodge in Baudette a little after 7. We had zero issues getting those boys out of bed! Funny how that works when we take them hunting too.

Bear and I weren't sure we should even attempt this trip. We end up with this grand idea in our heads and think the boys will get a long the whole time and we'll have a happy day of fishing. We can't help but keep trying things like this but part of me was dreading that we may end up stuck in a house for hours on end, catching no fish and crabby and fighting. Thankfully that wasn't the case. Makes me believe that other fun trips can happen!

We hadn't been in the house more than five minutes and Parker had a bite. He managed to set the hook and real in a keeper. The excitement he had was unforgettable. He gets giddy and all jacked up and it's so fun to watch!

This little guy instantly starting pouting that he didn't catch a fish right away but his brother did. I just had to remind him that he would get his chance and that we were going to catch fish! We've taken them before and sat all day and been miserable. But not this day!

Sure enough the next fish went to Emmitt. His mood quickly turned into pure excitement. One after the next he just kept catching fish! Believe me, we did lose a few, or they were too small to keep, but we kept getting bites! Never in all my years of fishing have I ever gone and hit the fish like this.

Of course Bella got to come with! She wasn't too interested in the fish. She would lick them once in awhile. But mainly she would sleep with one eye open and keep an eye on that flopping bag in the corner of the fish house. 

Emmitt was by far the best "fish measurer." We read them the rules and regs and they were sure to measure the fish and keep or toss them back. 

I managed to catch the biggest perch I have ever seen! She was huge and tasted yummy when Bear cooked her up for supper!

My boys and their fish! And footie jammie's too. They basically live in those things! 

Bear got a 22 incher! He was huge and had to be thrown back, but so fun to see those giant fish!

We headed back on the 25 miles of ice to the mainland. The trip home was a little scarier than heading out. I don't love being on the ice, especially that far out, but the pressure ridges that had developed while we were out quickly freaked us all out. We had another vehicle pass us when we stopped to check out the new ridge and the kind fisherman decided to lead us back and make sure we were okay. The boys judged our reaction and were a little more scared, but we reminded them that good people are out there and after an hour and a half ride we were back on dry land. Until next year Lake of the Woods!

Happy 7th Birthday Emmitt!

There is a first time for everything! And I'm not talking eating cereal out of a bowl without using a spoon. I'm talking about a little brother picking the exact same birthday party theme as his big brother. That has never happened. And I'm not so sure it'll happen again. But hey, I'm not complaining. It was very easy, I had all the decor ready to go and the ideas for the cupcakes already planned. Oooh, and I'll get to scrapbook both boys' pages with similar layouts and paper. Mom win!

The morning of Emmitt's birthday he was served Cocoa Puffs as his Kibble in a dog dish. He pounded it.

It's crazy every year how much he really changes, but this year there is a big difference. More and more boy looking and less baby face.

We celebrated with family at our house on President's Day. The boys had back to back hockey games over the weekend in two different countries. We just couldn't hold his birthday on the 13th...Friday the 13th nonetheless.

Guests were served "Toilet Water" to wash down their pupcakes.

Bone Appetit everyone! Enjoy a dog biscuit on your pupcake.

Don't forget to Fetch your utensil and wipe your paws! Oh and be sure to enjoy some puppy chow along the way!

Auntie Tammy loves the puppy chow and these goofballs. Pretty sure Uncle Scott taught Parker the "hide your finger up your nose" trick. 

Here we go...really turning seven when you blow out all the candles and the family has sung, "Emmitt has a birthday, Emmitt has a birthday, one year older than he was before." 

Happy seventh birthday Emmitt.