CKS Talent Show 2018

Each year during Catholic Schools Week, our kids' school has a talent show on Student Appreciation Day. Each year, our kids want to participate in the talent show.

Conor's original idea for an act was to do karate moves that he made up himself. I officially won "World's Worst Mom of the Year" when I told him that wasn't an option, and he needed to keep thinking. After a couple of days, some sulking, and a few tense moments, Conor decided to tell a couple of jokes using my puppet (Wilson) as his sidekick. He practiced very hard and even gave Wilson his own voice.

Conor's act:

Initially, Annika wanted to sing a song while standing on her head. I suggested she try it out first because that can make breathing really hard. Half way through her song, she was asking me for ideas on other things she could do. We kicked around a few ideas and came upon THE plan... a banana bread making demonstration. She even worn her "Annika's Kitchen" apron that Bestemor made for her! Talk about taking it to the next level!

Annika's Act:
(In multiple parts due to video size restrictions)

Side note: The recipe calls for 1 1/2 c flour, not 1/2 like she said

Annika's banana bread recipe/script.

Conor's Weekend Surprise for Us

Yesterday morning, Eric and I were slowly waking up and could hear the pitter-patter of little feet upstairs. We knew that Conor would soon be in our room to let us know he was awake... about a minute later, that's exactly what happened. What was about to happen, however, was definitely not on our radar.

Conor came into our room with a surprise for us ... he brought us drinks (a beer for Eric and a hard cider for me)  and breakfast in bed (1/4 of a pancake each  in a bowl). Conor decided to surprise his entire family with breakfast in bed and took it upon himself to do all of the prep.

He found only one pancake in the fridge (leftovers from the day before), so cut it into 4 even parts, microwaved it, and even topped it with some syrup. He knew the milk container was too full for him to successfully pour the milk into cups, so he opted for drinks that wouldn't spill (hence, the 7:30 AM cocktail hour attempt ... and, no, we didn't drink them ... they went back into the bar fridge).

After he served us our food, he and Eric took Annika's breakfast to her, so she could enjoy the treat of breakfast in bed.

Not only did Conor show amazing kindness and thoughtfulness, he also showed great problem solving and reasoning skills. So amazingly proud of our little guy!!

The Alin Advenshr

While at school, Annika authored a book called The Alin Advenshr (The Alien Adventure) and it is quite marvelous! I cannot truly describe how much I cherish this book, not to mention her telling of it.

Last night, I told the kids it was time to brush teeth and pick out stories for us to read. One of the books Annika picked out was The Alin Advenshr and she very excitedly read it to Conor and me. 

And now, ladies and gentlemen, the Olson Reading Room is proud to present Annika Olson reading from her latest creation: The Alin Advenshr. (insert applause here)

Swimming Lesson Firsts

Yesterday was a great day of firsts at swimming lessons for our kids.

During his lesson, Conor swam the crawl stroke by himself. His teacher was right there to help him along, but he did it! He got the kicking and arm motions down and beamed with pride when he got to the side of the pool. I almost cried with pride when I saw him swim. Previously, he either kicked or had his arms going ... and always with a teacher holding on to him or with the aid of a floatation device. Yesterday, it was all Conor!!

Not to be outdone by her little brother, when it was Annika's swim lesson, she went off of the high dive for the first time! The sweet part was a little boy in line ahead of her balked when he was on the diving board, but Annika shouted, "It's OK. You can do it!!" as she waited in line. Such a supportive little girl! When it was her turn, she went up the ladder and right off the board like it was nothing. I am hugely impressed with her courage and willingness to try something new like that. What really made me laugh was her "That was so... (glug, glug, glug) .... That was SO AWESOME!" after she surfaced. That girl oozes enthusiasm!