Photo #40, #41, #42, #43, and #44

Girls Day at the Spa!

(Happy Birthday Sarah!!!)

The morning began at 9:00 a.m. with Sarah walking into the spa, thinking that she was there to get her nails done for her birthday.  As she walked around the corner she found her close friends and family hiding around the corner dressed in white robes...ready to be pampered together!  Little to Sarah's knowledge, her husband was planning a day at the spa full of laughter, good coffee/tea, morning bagels, afternoon subs, and lots and lots of pampering.  

Each of us got three treatments...facials, massages, conditioning treatments, hydromassage, pedicures, and/or manicures.  The photo above is after Sarah's hair conditioning treatment...so soft (and pretty)!

What a great day that I got to spend with my best friend.  I stumbled across this quote and I think about Sarah and I's relationship...especially now that we don't live "just down the street" from eachother..."True friendship isn't about being inseperable, it's being separated and nothing changes."  Happy 30th Sarah!

Photo #37, #38, and #39

Molly loves her grandparents!

A definite perk of living down here is being able to spend quality time with my parents.  Of course, Molly enjoys them too.  Here is Molly and grandma Jill coloring in her coloring book.

 

Do you think that they look happy?  

 

Take a look at the pure joy and excitement on all three faces...don't you just love this?  Molly was putting together her animal puzzle and every time she got the pieces all put in the right spot, everybody would cheer and clap...Molly loved the attention and my parents loved giving it to her!

Photo #36

This photo makes me smile...do you remember the days in elementary school?  It seemed like every day there was something fun and exciting going on.  If it's not a classmate's birthday that you are celebrating, then it is Snowball Week, President's Day, Groundhog's Day, last day of the quarter, Hat Day, Pajama Day, Gum Day, and the list could go on and on!  Well, on this particular day we were celebrating the 100th day of school.  Yep, that's right...100th day of school.  That is a MAJOR celebration in elementary school!  The kids were so eager to see what I had planned for them on this particular day.  The day hadn't even started yet and they were knocking on the door and asking to come in before the school day had even started.   In this particular picture the kids went on a hershey kiss hunt.  There were 100 (of course) hershey kisses hiding around the classroom.  When they found a hershey kiss, there was a number on the bottom.  Then they had to place the hershey kiss on the correct square on the hundreds chart.  When all 100 hershey kisses were found, we had to figure out how to divide them equally amongst the 24 students...and yes, perfect that there were even some left over for the teacher.  The kids enjoyed this activity just as much as I enjoyed watching them!

Photo #35

If you have read the previous post, you know that Brandon has been out of town fishing at the Lake of the Woods.  While he was gone Molly and I stayed busy by visiting friends and family.  Of course she enjoys this but most of all, she enjoys when her daddy is home with her.  Every time the door would open she would get excited and run over yelling DADA!!!!!!  Each time would be somebody other than her "dada".  She went down for her daily nap and go figure that is when her daddy comes home.  When she awoke from her nap, Brandon went into her room to surprise her.  It was the sweetest moment to see her face when she looked up to see her dad.  I just couldn't help but capture this sweet moment of Molly cuddling in her daddy's arms (even if daddy needed a shower...badly).

Photo #34

It is on this day that I am grateful for play dates!  Yes, she's not even 2 years old yet and she's being invited over for a play date...lucky girl!  This is Molly and her sweet little friend Alivia.  These girls formed their friendship at daycare together.  Alivia's mom, Jill,  works with my husband at Dynamic Homes.  Jill's husband leaves for Guards once a month.  Brandon was out of town as well on a fishing trip to the Lake of the Woods.  It was very nice of Jill to think of Molly and I on this particular snowy Saturday afternoon.  The girls enjoy many different activities together such as- taking care of their babies, cooking in Alivia's kitchen set, screaming, running around, and tickling each other's tummies.  Adorable!

Photo #31, #32, and #33

Now this is a Minnesota blizzard! 

About 20 inches by the end of the storm...

I absolutely LOVE this photo of Molly and her daddy watching the snow from inside the warm, cozy house.  She kept crawling up the back side of the couch to look out the window and point at the snow.   Her eyes bring me such joy in this picture.  It is so fun to watch her get excited about the little things in life that she gets to experience for the first time.  It's times like these that I am reminded how much love I have for my job as a parent. 

Photo #30

 Meet Toby...one of my 25 little darlings in my 2nd grade classroom.  Toby is a typical boy who LOVES anything that goes fast...dirt bikes, 4-wheelers, sleds going down steep hills, snowmobiles, you get the idea.  He is always full of stories and I am constantly finding myself telling him, "you should be more careful"!  This morning I awoke to an email from Toby's aunt.  This just made my day!  

"Had supper with my nephew Toby this evening. We don't spend a ton of time with them, but he has such a special place in my heart. I love his spark for life, he can bring a smile to my heart with his sincere personality. He told me tonight that I am such a "good aunt" and that I kind of remind him of his teacher Mrs. Olson. He told me that is a really good thing. Thank you for making a difference in his life. Your positive attitude and love is evident when he talks about school. He was so excited to share about "Tech Thursdays" and watching Rusty every morning on the Smartboard (this sounds great...is it a subscription or something I can find online BTW?) I can only imagine your days with him are filled with interesting conversations, laughs, and of course challenges. I just had to tell you THANK YOU, from an aunt and fellow teacher! THANK YOU and God Bless You."

Did I mention that I have the best job in the world???????

Photo #28 and #29

Gosh, I just love her.  Typical Sunday morning for the Olsons.  Wake up, have breakfast, drink LOTS of GOOD coffee (just picked up a bag of Dunn Bros. coffee beans...can we say perfection?  This may have to be another post in and of itself!)  And then...bath time!  Molly is such a trooper.  You can't tell in this picture but she's sick with a head cold and cough...AGAIN!  As always, she's in good spirits though.  The photo looks foggy because of all the steam but here she is playing her music in the tub.

And I just had to post our Mommy and Molly bath tub art.  I think I enjoy it more than she does sometimes.  Happy Sunday everyone...I'm off to spend some quality time with my family!  Gotta love Sundays!

Photo #27

I was going through my old facebook photos last night and stumbled across this one of my mom, grandma, and I.  We were in Fargo celebrating my grandma's birthday.  I absolutely love this photo because it reminds me of how much fun the women in my family have when we are together.  I am lucky to have such a close family of women that truly enjoy the moments that we share.  Side note:  I am also lucky to have such amazing genes...I can only hope that I age as well as my mother and grandmother have!  I love you both!