"Mommy...I'm THREE!"

I love this little boy so much.  

I love him so much, I feel like he's getting annoyed with how often I hug and kiss him.  He's sweet, he's funny, he's playful, and he's loving.  And now...he's THREE!

Calvin loves to go golfing with his daddy, so he was really excited about having a golfing party!  I had fun coming up with some golf-themed cakes.  Calvin approved.  I'm happy.

What a lucky little guy...he got to open up a lot of really fun presents, including a new set of golf clubs. Too bad winter is approaching...or is it here already?  Anyway, summer will be here before we know it.  Perry can't wait to get him back out on the golf course!

Time to blow out the THREE big candles...and EAT CAKE!

So here is what Calvin is like at three years old...

Favorite food (other than chocolate): oatmeal
Favorite TV show:  Doc McStuffins
Favorite sayings:  "Of course."  "Wellll, kinda..."
Favorite song:  (still...ugh)  Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star
Favorite book:  Everyone Poops and Ice Cream Bear

Calvin loves to talk on the phone, play Disney games on the computer, text Daddy, play any kind of sport, paint pictures, sing, watch Tutitu on YouTube (google it), ride his tricycle, vacuum, ride in his car, read books, and PLAY, PLAY, PLAY.  He's on the go all of the time.  I love his energy.

There are so many things to love about Calvin, but what I've come to love the most is his compassion.  He may be a rough and tumble little boy, but around Natalie, he is the sweetest, gentlest child.

The other day, as I was washing dishes, I turned around to find Calvin sitting on the couch with Natalie...

He had Natalie's hand in his own, helping her do a tracing game on the iPad.  He was so gentle and talked so sweetly to her.  I'm so glad I had the camera close at hand.  He loves to sit next to Nat and put his arm around her.  He hugs and kisses her and talks to her softly.  It's a joy watching them grow up together, and I can't wait to see how adding another child will change the dynamic in our home.

One more thing to add to this long post...

Some of you may know that Natalie was not our first child.  On November 3rd, 2005, our first daughter, Cheryl Lori was born far too early.  She passed away at birth.  It's hard to believe that she would be 7 years old.  I can tell you that not ONE single day has gone by that I haven't thought of her.  There is always something in my day that reminds me of her and brings a smile to my face or a tear to my eye.  I am comforted knowing that she is in the Lord's arms, but I can't wait until the day that I can hold her myself, something I never got to do in the hospital.

Calvin shares his big sister's birthday of November 3rd, turning a sad day into a very happy one for our family.  His due date was November 10th, but we had to schedule the C-section for 39 weeks.  How amazing that it just so happened to be his sister's birthday.

So Happy Birthday to my two beautiful children.  I'm the luckiest mommy on the planet.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from my little astronaut and fairy!

It was good to be back at home this Halloween!  We didn't have a ton of trick-or-treaters, but the few we had made it feel a little bit more like normal around here.  

I have to admit, I was a little worried we wouldn't be able to get Calvin into a costume.  For some strange reason, he at least pretended to be scared of wearing ANY costume on Halloween.  After days of unsuccessfully bribing him with candy, he finally tried on his costume at the request of his beloved cousin, Stella.  

He still wasn't too sure about it.  

But Halloween rolled around, and with the promise of a pail full of candy, he put it on again.  Victory!  

The first order of business was to paint the pumpkins we picked out at the pumpkin patch a couple of weeks ago.  Calvin loves to paint---and Natalie had fun, too!

We had planned to go trick-or-treating around our neighborhood, but unfortunately it was just too cold and windy for Natalie.  Luckily, Minot has a great indoor event at the MSU Dome...

Waiting in line with sissy...CHEESE! 

Natalie doesn't look too thrilled, but she loved it!
(It's hard to capture her smiles on camera!)

Calvin wasn't too sure about all of the costumes, but he loved the candy!

Vegetables?  I don't eat vegetables.
Unless they're mashed potatoes.

The best part?  We were home by 6:00 and Calvin got to hand out candy to the trick-or-treaters.  He really wanted all of them to come in and play with him in his room, but eventually he learned that his job was to open the door and hand out candy.  

We hope you all had a fun Halloween!

Next up...Calvin's birthday!

OCD

Do you know what this is?

If you guessed "a slice of American cheese," you're wrong.

In our world, this is a tragedy.  It is a piece of cheese that is no longer edible.  It's enough to send a sweet little guy like this...

...into a throw-himself-on-the-floor tantrum of the highest magnitude.  How in the world is he supposed to eat BROKEN cheese?  When Calvin wants a piece of cheese, only he is allowed to open the cheese, which, 50% of the time, results in the afore mentioned tragedy.

This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Calvin's idiosyncracies.  Many involve the order in which things must be done, but many others are all about asserting his independence.  As exasperating as it is at times, it's so darn funny.  

I'm afraid I have passed my obsessive-compulsive tendencies on to my child.  

Time to Catch Up!

Lots of things happen when you don't update your blog for almost two months!  It certainly has been a busy two months for us, though.  Here's what has taken place since I last sat down to update our blog:

Natalie had her half-body cast removed on August 8th, but before she could be released from the pink monster, she was diagnosed with pneumonia.  The p-word is a scary one in our house.  It's never easy for Natalie to fight off pneumonia, even at nearly six years old.  Thankfully, after a week and a half of antibiotics and many, many nebulizer treatments, she was able to fully recover, this time at home and not in the hospital!

Calvin is always nearby to make Natalie smile; on this day, I found him reciting Wynken, Blynken and Nod to Natalie.  I recite it to him every night before he goes to sleep, and now he has it almost memorized himself!  It's pretty hard to understand him here, but he's doing it.  I had tears in my eyes because he had no idea I was even in the room!

Once the cast was removed, it was time for our yearly Olson Family Trip to Eagle Beach Resort in Minnesota.  It wasn't the hottest lake week we've ever had, but overall it was pretty nice!  It's always good to get away and enjoy the peace and quiet of the lake.

Calvin loved the beach...  

 ...and fishing...

...making sand castles...

 ...and eating pancakes with Daddy!  Mmmmm...The Logging Camp.

Natalie loved the boat...

 ...and the wind in her hair as Daddy water skiied behind her!

But all good things must come to an end, and summer quickly ended.  That means it was back to school for Natalie.  She's back at Jefferson in her preschool classroom for one last year before entering kindergarten.  She could have attended kindergarten this year, but we decided to do one last year with the teachers and therapists she's known since she was three years old.  We're in no hurry to get her into full days--she has many years of schooling ahead!

Calvin loves the bus almost as much as Natalie does.   

Meanwhile, I'm busy at home preparing for another busy fall and winter of football/basketball reffing for Perry.  He is gone nearly every night of the week reffing all across the state.  I spend a lot of time preparing meals to freeze, so I can cut down on the grocery store trips.  I'm a hermit during the winter.  I have very little tolerance for cold weather.

I've also started baking cakes/cupcakes as a side hobby.  It's become my creative outlet and my escape from the constant laundry and cleaning duties.  I'm considering hiring a maid.  Perry would never know.  Here's a sample of some of my latest creations.

I really can't believe October is almost here.  It's Hostfest week in Minot, and I'm actually really excited!  We're going to Jeff Foxworthy on Tuesday, then the kids and I will wander the halls the rest of the days.  I must be turning into an old person.

A Trip to the Farm

This past weekend, the kids and I took a trip up to Sherwood while Perry was busy reffing basketball games at the State Am in Bismarck.  We had a great time with Papa and Grandma; on Friday night, we attended the PTO carnival.  Natalie enjoyed all the noise while Calvin went down the gigantic inflatable slide about 30 times.  

The highlight of the weekend, though, was a trip to a local farm to see some farm animals!  I had planned on taking both Natalie and Calvin, but it was just too cold for Natalie to be outside.  So, Papa, Calvin and I jumped into the pickup and drove out to the farm of Guy and Wendy Solemsaas.  They have three beautiful daughters, Madeline, Grace, and Lily, who helped show us around the barnyard.  I'm sorry if I spelled their names wrong, Wendy!  

First up, we met some cats...lots of cats who are as friendly as can be.  

  Calvin has no fear of animals, and went right to work carrying them around.  By the way, check out that vintage E.T. beanie!  I didn't pack for 30 degree weather, so you can also see Natalie's jacket underneath the grey sweatshirt.  Sorry, Calvin.

I couldn't believe how friendly the cats were!  Calvin was so focused on holding as many cats as possible.  But pictures don't do it justice...so here's a video of his kitty-chasing adventure...

There were also bunnies in this barn that were SOOOOO soft, but Calvin was not interested.  He was obsessed with the cats.

In the next barn, we caught a glimpse of a calf that was born just hours before we arrived.  The mama cow was a bit protective, so I just took a picture for Calvin and we moved to the next barn.  Sorry for the poor picture quality...I don't really have any excuse for why that happened.   

The next barn was full of sheep!  Big sheep, little lambs...they were all there, and they all have names.  I was amazed at how they all knew every single sheep by name.  Guy says he wanted to name them #1, #2, #3, etc., but with a house full of girls, he had no choice but to let them choose names for each one.  

Calvin ran around with the sheep in this pen and only got knocked down once.  I was surprised that he didn't seem all that anxious about being in a cage with animals that were larger than him.  I think he had focused in on the lambs, so he didn't really notice the bigger sheep.

Here is Grace helping Calvin pet a little lamb...

 He even got to pick up a lamb...for a short period of time.  They wiggle a bit more than the kittens do!

At one point, we had him penned up with a bunch of lambs, and he had fun petting them and attempting to carry them around.

Thank you, again, to the Solemsaas family for letting us stop by on a cold Sunday morning.  Calvin had so much fun, and so did I!  You're right...there is something very special about how little kids interact with animals.  We can't wait to come back this summer to meet some more farm friends!

Best. Day. Ever.

I realize Calvin likely won't remember any of this trip in the years to come, but Perry and I surely will.  Spending all of this time together, just the four of us, has been incredible.  I've learned just how grown up Natalie is, and how much Calvin has learned.  He's a fun little guy who's starting to say some funny things!

Today, as Perry entered the freeway, Calvin yelled from the back, "Careful, Daddy!"  Also, we've been serenaded throughout the trip with one song in particular...

Natalie seems to like it.

Our first destination on this beautiful March morning was Como Zoo.  I've never been there before, but I can tell you that we will never again visit the Minnesota Zoo.  Como Zoo is absolutely amazing...it's beautiful, not too big and lots of fun for little kids.

Outside of the zoo and conservatory

Calvin thought this giant turtle was interesting

Cal spent most of his time trying to climb under the fences

Hopefully these bears will return to Minot soon!

A corn dog and "Apey Grapey."  Calvin loved his lunch.

Natalie soaked up the sun.  The weather was beautiful!

Yumm-O!

The tropical garden area was beautiful!

Natalie was in HEAVEN!

Calvin & Daddy--my cuties!

Outside of the tropical garden

My princess!  Pretty in pink!

After a fun morning and early afternoon wandering around Como Zoo, we headed back to our new hotel for the night.  FYI, the Holiday Inn Express near the Mall of America is NOT nice.  It's strange, because I've never been to a Holiday Inn Express I didn't love.  So poor Daddy had to pack up the car AGAIN and moved us into the Country Inn & Suites near the mall, which is a MILLION times better.

So, it was on to our next adventure for the day...the Mall of America.  I felt a little guilty that we were heading inside on such a beautiful day, but I knew Calvin would have a blast at the amusement park there...and he did!

Cal's eyes lit up when he saw the carousel

He loved this little roller coaster ride

Sorry...pictures taken with Perry's phone---but he had fun on this fire truck ride!

Second time on the carousel!

By the time we left the mall, it was already dinner time.  It's a no-meat Friday for us, so Perry got to try IHOP pancakes for the first time ever.  If you know Perry at all, you know that this was a very special moment for him.  :)

I really wish we had more time to spend in Minneapolis, but our time here is almost up.  I'm hoping to make a stop at IKEA before we depart tomorrow morning.  I've never been there, mostly because I'm afraid I'll spend way too much money there.

So, for now, I'll just bask in the glow of this wonderful day and thank the Lord for blessing me with such a wonderful family.  Best. Day. Ever.