Tuesday, February 28, 2017

A girl and her dog. A dog and his girl.

Last night, Annika and Buca shared some sweet moments of affection that were nothing but pure love. There's just something so special about this connection. (Yes, it helps that we have an amazingly wonderful dog!)




As is proven by his grunts of happiness, Buca is a big fan of Annika's ear rubs. :)


Friday, February 10, 2017

CKS Talent Show 2016

Last week, the kids' school held its annual talent show as part of Catholic Schools Week. It was no surprise that Annika was itching to participate, but was a little stumped on what to do for her talent. Conor tends to be a bit shier than Annika, so I have to admit that I was a little surprised when he said that he also wanted to perform in the talent show.

After a little head scratching, I was struck with the idea that Annika could sing "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" while also performing the song in American Sign Language. The song was short enough that I knew she'd be able to learn the signs quickly and master the whole thing prior to the show.

I found two cute jokes for Conor to tell, thinking that, too, would be easy for him to master in the allotted timeframe. Thanks to the Internet, I was able to unearth two very cute, age-appropriate jokes for him: "What is a pirate's favorite state? Arrrrrrkansas!" and "What do you do if you find a green dragon? What for it to get ripe." (insert laugh track here.)

One requirement to participate in the talent show (which is organized by Conor's marvelous teacher, by the way) is each child has to perform his/her act a week or two ahead of time to make sure it is an approved act. When Eric picked up the kids the day of "auditions" (no child is turned away), Eric was told that Conor decided to forego his jokes for whistling. He's very proud of his ability and at the last minute, tossed plan A (the jokes) out of the window and went with plan B (riffing some whistling).


Snow Days for the Olsons

On Sunday as I sat on the bleachers at the local pool and watched the kids in their diving class, I heard a mom down the bench say it was snowing outside. Wha??? Apparently, I had been out of the weather loop because I had no clue that snow was even a possibility.

As it turned out, it was a major possibility that wound up giving the kids two days off from school this week. The extra days off from school were filled with snowman making, snowball fights, snow angels, and some much-needed relaxation for the kids. They kicked back and enjoyed a slower pace for a bit, which was appreciated considering the break neck speed life has been traveling for the past few weeks.


Eric and Conor watching the snow fall

Winter gear, schminter gear.... who needs boots and a coat when you have a hat and PJs??

Pretty backyard trees

Showing off our snow accumulation

Happy snow boy

Annika putting a bit of a scientific spin on the snowfall

The scientist and her assistant

Snowballs are about to fly

Snow angel

Even Buca got in on the snow fun

Snowball fight

Our pretty front yard tree covered in snow

Hey Buca, you have a little something on your nose

Thursday, February 2, 2017

School Talent Show 2017

Each year, the kids' school has a talent show during Catholic Schools Week. Each year, our kids feel compelled to get up in front of the whole school and demonstrate a talent they possess. Eric and I are incredibly proud of them for showing so much bravery and self confidence to do this.

For this year's talent show, Conor recited the poem "Snowball" by Shel Silverstein. Annika did an Irish dance routine with her friend Madeleine. The kids did a fabulous job and had a lot of fun!!

Last night, Conor mentioned that he did feel nervous standing up in front of everyone, so opted to look at his paper to quell the nerves. Leading up to the event, Eric coached him on how to speak slowly and clearly. Conor obviously listened and took the lessons to heart.

Annika and Madeleine took the lessons from their Irish dance class as their performance inspiration. They picked music that was the right tempo, wore matching Irish knot shirts, and got their feet moving in sync. They practiced during their school recesses to iron out their routine and their dedication really paid off.

Way to go, kiddos!!!!