Merry Christmas!!!

2009 Christmas, originally uploaded by olives on a monday.

See you in 2010!

Christmas tour of homes 2009 {a little late}

WELCOME. Sorry my pitcures aren't very good, I was lazy and used my small camera and didn't bother touching them up at all.

on the fridge...

ok...this was so great...not a great picture but SO funny that Evan was laughing his head off as I was coming down the stairs.

stairwell...and my copied Pottery Barn art...I did a horrific job, but it took awhile.

oops...blurry photo tree...I LOVE getting Christmas cards.

living room...

our ugly fireplace...trying to dress it up :)



the nativity was given to me by my Grandparents who passed away years ago, but it is something I really treasure.

another nativity we got as a wedding gift {great gift!} and some fun little cardboard houses with trees{?} well, I tried :)

close up of my little town.

stockings hung with care. {not on the actual stocking holders as we know with three young boys one is bound to yank a stocking a have a letter come crashing on them!}


Our tree {bad picture sorry}...Oh, and look at this package that arrived...three little boys.

:)

a little shout out.

My friend Bethany knit and sent this hat to Liam for his 1st Birthday, all the way from California. Love you Bethany! Thank you!

yellow.

I used to hate yellow. I hated that country yellow that it seemed so many houses had in it.

Things however... have changed. The shades of yellow have changed, developed into something much more appealing and much more desirable.

I'm now the proud owner of a Shey*B camera strap, and I'm L-O-V-I-N-G it. And how cool is it that the day it arrives I'm wearing that sweater with yellow in it?

Pretty awesome if you ask me.
It also doubles as a neck warmer.

woot for sweet camera straps!

the Christmas picture we won't be printing.

where are you going Liam? , originally uploaded by olives on a monday.

I believe Liam was trying to bite Justin.

steadfast is the Lord.

There is snow falling outside this morning. Looks like another light dusting that will most likely be gone by this afternoon.

I haven't quite been myself lately. Not entirely sure why. I do know
that Thanksgiving week I got pneumonia.

And I ran a 5k with it.

Like a moron.

Some photographer got some really attractive pictures of me running though...thanks buddy. You really needed to take that picture of me looking like DEATH and post it on the world-wide-web.

I ran the race in Wisconsin dragging along my brother Pete, an old friend of our Joe {who kicked all our behinds BIG TIME} and Pete's roommate Arron. It was cold, windy, and freezing. Did I mention the pneumonia? Justin and my Dad came and cheered us on in the cold which was awesome of them.

I was feeling sick before the race, but I wasn't about to skip out because I had a mild fever the night before! BOY did I pay for that decision. I was so out of it for the next two days and Saturday I slept almost the entire day. My Dad took me to his office and my Mom took a chest x-ray and discovered I had pneumonia.

My Mom came home with us Sunday and stayed until last Friday. That was SO helpful.

Needless to say, my Thanksgiving weekend with our familes, wasn't that enjoyful as I was just not myself. It was hard to think straight let alone be thankful for all the blessings in our lives.
Besides the sickness my attitude wasn't the best.

This weekend we relaxed. We got our Christmas tree, {Justin set a new personal record time for picking one out} and had some friends over last night. It was a really nice weekend. Justin and I had some good laughs, we've both been so busy it was so great to just be together.

This Monday though, for some reason I just feel out of sorts. It's not just because it is Monday either. I only have about 1/3 of our Christmas shopping done, and I feel REALLY behind on everything. Our upstairs looks like a minor bomb went off and I'm still just exhausted from the pneumonia I suppose.

As I read the word this morning the Lord reminded me of something so simple, yet so special.

His Steadfast love.


The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness. {STEADFASTNESS!}
-Lamentations 3:22-23


He is STEADFAST.
Immovable!
Unchanging!


Psalm 136:1-9

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever.
Give thanks to the God of gods,
for his steadfast love endures forever.
Give thanks to the Lord of lords,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
to him who alone does great wonders,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
to him who by understanding made the heavens,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
to him who spread out the earth above the waters,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
to him who made the great lights,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
the sun to rule over the day,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
the moon and stars to rule over the night,
for his steadfast love endures forever

So thankful for an amazing steadfast, unchanging savior that is constant and consistent each and every day!
What do you thank the Lord for this day?

1.

hard to believe how fast you went from this:

to this:

to this:

to this:

{pictured here with your Great-Grandfather Paul Swanson}
to this:

to this:

to this:

to this:

to this:



love you sweet monkey.
xoxoxo
your Mama

easy peasy advent calendar.

I've wanted a GOOD advent calendar for a few years now. One that you could put a little something in.
I wanted this advent calendar from Pottery Barn Kids, but $69...I don't think so. Besides, it's sold out anyway.
So, I came up with my own, and it cost about $15.

Need:
12x12{ish}piece of plywood {about $2.
25 boxes. {I got mine for .25 each}
decorative paper {$4}
mod podge glue {$3}


glue on boxes {with lids on} in 5 rows of 5.

Yeah, it's not all perfect and even, but you get the picture.

Then take off all your lids and cover them with your paper, and numbers if you'd like.

Wallah. Easy peasy advent calendar.

on NEW MOON.

SO...last night I went to the opening of NEW MOON with my good friends Allison and Beth.
There we stood in line 45 minutes before the movie with teenage girls, cougars, and men who had been dragged there. In front of us there were three young girls {talking faster than I could think...did I used to be like that?} and not moving WITH THE LINE while a Mom, Dad and their two girls behind us, and here is the MOTHER who is practically ON TOP OF ALLISON as if someone would sneak in between her and Allison if she wasn't and SHE WASN'T EVEN GOING to the 10PM showing ANYWAY, she was going to the 10:30!
Let me tell you some of these people needed to R-E-L-A-X.
It was an experience. I cannot even IMAGINE what a premiere with the actors actually there. It must be complete madness. Madness that I want NO part of.

Anyway the movie was pretty great. Compared to the first film which I did enjoy, it was a bit dark and too dramatic, this was amazing.
It's the look,the feel {no, not it's not cotton} of the film that the added time and money committed to New Moon that compared with Twilight, that makes it supremely better. And the settings, from the cliffs and the gorgeous forests, to the Tuscan scenes of the Volterra, gives the movie a less darker feel. While at times the background music seemed overdone, I appreciated the indie soundtrack that accompanied and complimented the movie. I also appreciated director Chris Weitz's {who is new on the scene,Catherine Hardwicke directed Twilight} faithfulness to the book, and I dare say his additions at times, improves it.
There are people here who won't "get it",and I understand. They don't connect with the stories, and this clearly isn't for them. Kind of like Harry Potter wasn't for me.
The film was good, the acting was overall well done {I thought Dakota Fanning was FABULOUS in her small role as Jane}, the dialogue works well and there is a good amount of humor which is mostly well placed. I'm left interested and excited to see the direction they'll take with Eclipse.

ALSO...
on a more humorous note NEXT TO and BEHIND us was this group of like 10 women {WHO HAD TO BE IN THEIR 40's if not close to 50} one of which BEFORE the movie began was dancing and acting like a COMPLETE buffoon.
Throughout the film they were shouting whenever a shirt was off or perhaps a kiss was going to occur. It was RIDICULOUS. These Women were old enough to BE the guys in this films MOTHERS! Crazy I tell you. We had our suspicions that they had been drinking and sure enough when the film let out we saw their.
As we exited a the dancing buffoon and friends where standing together, and she puts her arm around her friend and says;
"That movie was AH-MAZ-ING"

Guess the film changed her life. :)

the week before we give thanks.

Justin has been working 10 {ten} hour days, 6{six} days a week. It's a little ridiculous and I'm pretty sure, long term I can't deal with it. It has been fine so far, but I see it getting old quickly. I do miss him, and I know how tired he is.
This week has been insane, and here are a few selected stories from the week so far.

Monday:
Justin and I have been having the same argument for WEEKS. It is not a serious or important argument, but neither of us is willing to give. So Monday we are in bed talking and he falls asleep on me mid-conversation!!
Instead of jolting him {which is my preferred method of waking him...not his} I decided to try the annoyed sigh...loudly sighing him awake.
Didn't work, so I'm going back to jolting...although that night I let the man sleep.
It was a Monday after all.

Tuesday:
Ev. the L-man and I went to GAP to buy Justin some fleece lined jeans for work. I am walking to the register and Evan is just ahead of me, and I can't even tell you how it happened but all of the sudden he appears with a Mountain Dew in his hand, SIPPING it like he has had it all along.
"where did you get that?"
" I dunno. Over there."
I see a bunch of employees putting up new fixtures and new clothes out and realize
it is one of theirs.
NICE.
So, instead of alerting them all that my three year old has potentially backwashed in their drink of choice I put the drink back from where I thought he picked it up.
My Dad would DIE. My germo-phobe {technical term} Dad who is A DOCTOR for crying out loud would die if he heard that. Let's say my Mom took a bite out of a sandwich and decided she didn't want the rest. My Dad would surgically cut the sandwich at about a length of 1.5 inches away from the bite so he wouldn't get the germs.
I'm not sure why I just included that, but it seemed like a good way to tease my Dad.

By the way, what does Evan want for Christmas? Diet Soda. {I don't buy it, and so he wants it}

I'll give a little shout out to Justin too who won his first indoor soccer game {which I'm NOT jealous of at all since I get to stay home with our boys...ahem} and scored all three goals the team had. WOOT.

Wednesday:
Evan makes a HUGE ruckus when he uses the toilet. He makes a lot of noise, slamming toilet seat up and down...I think he wants the WHOLE HOUSE to know that he has used the bathroom.
Last night, Max was brushing his teeth and Evan was using the toilet and as I was on my way upstairs to help them finish up and get into bed I hear the slam and a cry.
You guessed it, Evan slammed his P in with the lid.
Poor kid, I'm sure it killed.
I came back downstairs and Justin and I laughed at his expense.
We are GREAT parents.

Any "fun" things happen with you yet this week?

{ps-I have a fun tutorial coming soon...at least I thought it was fun, and maybe you will too.}

Thursday am addition:

This morning I met a nice Grandfather at Panera, got a free tire rotation, and a free bluetooth since my cell phone speaker broke. Been a GREAT Thursday so far :)

brothers.

It was nice growing up with someone like you - someone to lean on, someone to count on... someone to tell on! ~Author Unknown

Romans 6:10-11

I've been reading in Romans and this morning I was in Chapter 6 and these verses {11,12} really struck me....

" For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So YOU must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God IN Christ Jesus."

I don't know about you but I sometimes expect these huge epiphanies when i'm reading the word...not everyday, but every now and then. I'm finding {and learning} that is things we might have seen or heard over and over can suddenly hit you differently as

Jesus died for our sins! AMEN!! HOWEVER he DEFEATED not only sin but death as well! WHOA.

In verse 11 it says we "...must consider yourselves dead to sin..." as in the power and command that sin has had in our lives has been broken, because of Gods grace and work on the cross.
The grasp of sin in our lives has been broken!
THANK YOU JESUS!

What a joy!
What a relief!
What a comfort!

How wonderful are his mercies? New EVERY morning. {Lam. 2:22,23}
So that we, his children can overcome and conquer sin.
We are made ALIVE in him. All we need to do is come before him on our hands and knees.
Beg him for mercy, for help that we might overcome our ugly, sinful, heart desires and instead run to him.

TO LIVE for HIM.

wow.

That's why I think preaching the gosepel to yourslef daily is so helpful. Your mind is on him, on the prize which is ETERNAL life with HIM!

What a gift.
I pray I may be more dilligent in living my life FOR Him.

A good friend who is going through A LOT of tough stuff right now, sent me this song this morning{here are some of the lyrics:

Mikeschair - Let the Waters Rise

God You know where I’ve been
And You were there with me then
You were faithful before You’ll be faithful again
I’m holding Your hand

There's a raging sea
Right in front of me
Wants to pull me in
Bring me to my knees

So let the waters rise
If You want them to
I will follow You
I will follow You

God Your love is enough
You will pull me through
I’m holding onto You
God Your love is enough
I will follow You
I will follow You

soccer 2009.

We've begun extra-circulars in this casa, and this fall Maxwell played soccer.
He loved being on the team, he had some great teammates and Max was a pretty good player if I say so myself.


Evan SO wished he was on the field. He did enjoy the games...and especially enjoyed the post- game snack. Snacks crack me up. At this age the kids look more forward to the snacks more than the actual game!

Liam cheering on his big brother...and giving me a look.


These three were a POWERHOUSE. That girl...Jaycee...was INCREDIBLE. She was so aggressive and got right in there with the best of 'em...I was quite impressed with that little lady. The boy behind Max was Johann...he was a quick little fella...complete with rat tail. He doesn't speak a LICK of English but he sure is a sweet boy.

Breakaway that let to a gggggooooooooooaaaalllll!!!

team picture {with a couple kiddos missing}

A fun season!