Win some...lose some

Saturday we spent the day in Foley for JO Volleyball.  I forgot my camera again, so here is a cell phone pic of daughter #2 playing.  She's #6.  I really need to start remembering that darn thing.  The girls lost 3 sets and won one.  All the games were super fun to watch. 

And ooops...I almost forgot to post Week 5 of project 52.  It was a rough weekend..

Isa, Iz, Izzy, Bels, Bella, Bel...

...or Isabella.

Whatever we call her, it all fits her cute little face.  I like her. 

and...I'm pretty sure she likes me.

Look at the cute little face...I mean she's practically smiling at me.

Baby, I like you!

Bells and Balls

My cousin Stephanie got married this weekend..her and Tom made a beautiful bride and groom.  I had a great time and was good to get away from the house for a little bit.  Friday night, I planted my arse at the kitchen table and kept on working in the tax department...all I can say is big fat yuck-o.   Saturday we got going pretty early for our drive to Bloomington..ok like 11...but I thought that was early enough since my purpose was to sleep in.  It was accomplished.  We had some banking business to take care of and then headed out for the big city.  The wedding was pretty.  The reception, well some of us can say that we took full advantage of the open bar...and it wasn't just beer.  Ya, it was great and funny and yep we were drunk!  Once the open bar was closed, I was done.  $6 freaking .75 for a drink..Not one ounce of my money went for a drink..nope not one.  I have children to feed, can't waste it on -alcohol-.  Good time had by all..especially my brother-in-law Chad..(muuuaaahhh)

The quality of the picture is sort of bad, my camera battery was nearly dead before the wedding and during the wedding it died.  One of my upcoming blogs will tell the story of why I have lost touch with the passion for photography that I once I had...numerous reasons or maybe I won't, it really is a sad sad story ...but anyways this is from the cell phone.

Then today we had Kasidies J.O. Volleyball Tourney...the girls were 9/9..yah baby!  1st place again!! It was a great time!  Here is another cell phone picture...

Number 13..my girl!

Beauty at its Best...

In the back of my mind I always knew the day would come when my girls would want to wear *gasp* make-up.  I never wanted that day to come, for it meant that the girls were getting that-much-older.  Make-up is a huge step in growing up.

I remember the day like it was yesterday...my very first make-up kit. FRESH-N-FANCY.  I wish I knew where the picture was, for sure it would send everyone in laughing hysterics...I can't remember, I must have been 8 or so.  Nonetheless, it was still my first make-up in my bag.  Oh the fun we had with that...Santa was the hero that year.

So, the time had come this week when I gave the 'official' ok for them to wear it.  I'm taking the motherly guess that (another *gasp*) interest in boys had something to do with this.  Oh how they will kill me when they read this.

So on Tuesday of this week, Jennifer Kay of Mary Kay, came to teach Kelsie Kay and Kasidie Kay how to properly take care of their beautiful faces.  It was such a fun time.  The girls look so grown up.  I was nearly in tears, for real.  So here are pictures of my Beautiful Babes..making themselves more beautiful then they already are!

Dang! Why am I such a follower?...

...I wanna be the leader.. I swear Stacy P...you are in trouble!  This is going to be the BIGGEST challenge I have had in a long time...oh wait, teenagers are challenging every.single.day!

soooo...what should I blog about?!  Maybe I should just start with a recap of *some* of the important things of 2010.

January...I think we brought in the new year with a ~bang~??  Had Campbell Christmas in January and scrapbooked with the aunts/cousins in deerwood.

This is my Aunt Pat at Keepsakes Cabin Scrapbooking Retreat

February...learned I was pregnant...meaning the age gap between the youngest and the middle child would be 12.5 years...named the baby 'Baby Carlos' and attended Kasidies Spelling Bee

6th Grade Spelling Bee

March...Uncle Eddie was diagnosed with cancer, went to the Girls High School State Basketball Tourney to watch Don's cousin Grace play for Goodhue, and had a miscarriage..devastating to all of us.

Grace #21



April...we went to a cousins wedding, Kelsie started Track and she had her braces removed.

Shot...she makes me laugh!

May...I became a Godmother to Amira, which makes Godchild #3, Kelsie had a piano recital and we attended Alex (Don's brother) college graduation.

Alex and Ashley - U of M Morris Campus

June...Kasidie graduated from 6th grade...and we packed..

BFF's since they were 8 weeks old..only 8 days apart

Shayna and Kasidie

July...This month was an extremely stressful one...  We bought a house, and left one that had an incredible amount of memories, Alex and Ashley got married (helluva a good time), we had the Balfanz Family Camping weekend, and spent endless days (and nights) in the pool in our backyard.

35410 125th Ave Onamia, MN  56359

August...we had grandpa Nortons 90th birthday party, spent more endless days and nights in the pool..and unpacked more.

The old man..I love him!



September...BUSY month..the kids went back to school, the daycare load lightened a bit, Kasidie started volleyball, we went to Netta's annual daycare party, and took a day to hang out at Kathio..

Kathio State Park

October...we had more volleyball with Kas, became a Tastefully Simple Consultant, met up with college girls (some of which I hadn't saw in 15+ years), carved pumpkins, had Lithotripsy on my kidney, went to the MN Wild game with Don and closed the pool up for the year.

*Kasidie Kay Olson*
pink laced

November...spent a day at the U of M with Kasidie for testing on her kidneys..spent Thanksgiving at my moms, and did the annual 'Black Friday' shop-a-thon with BFF Shannon and her dad.

This is why I don't like to post pictures of myself..

I look like a complete dweeb.

December...went to Kasidies High School Choir Concert, had several Christmas' and on New Years Eve, I was part of welcoming in Isabella Brandt into the world. (No I didn't help give birth...I was just there to take pictures...the girls too were part of this heavenly birth! 

Isabella AnnMarie Brandt

12-31-10

2011..BRING.IT.ON..show me whatcha got!!  Are you gonna follow me?  I can't wait to see what is in store for me..many indoor house projects, landscaping and tree planting, camping trips and tons of family time.  So, with that in mind, here is my picture post for the first week of P52..

When will the addiction end?

It's been awhile

Well, here I am 1.5 years later...

No sense in going waaaayyy back to then, but will try to touch the main thoughts of interest.

Divorce was final back in March...approaching a year soon. Things are good there. Matt and I have a great form of communication. No problem too big or small that neither of us can handle.

Kelsie is in 8th grade. She was on B honor roll and hoping for another round of honor roll this quarter. Math is a challenge for her, but she still seemed to keep her grade up enough to get the honor roll. She is thinking of doing track this spring...that would make me very happy to see her doing that. Of course she still does piano. She is on her 4th year, I think. She also does the percussion in band. Fun to see her excel in so many things. Lately we have been getting in some serious talks. I thought I would always be so nervous about these, but ya know, it really is natural for me. I can't believe how easy she is to talk to...and the best part of all of this.. SHE STILL LOVES ME!! So many teenagers have so much anger at their parents or don't have the closeness that I have with my kids...I love it.

Kasidie is in 6th grade. She also made the B honor roll. She opted to sit a year out of piano. I was hoping to get another year out of her, but didn't work. Their piano teacher is/was much more than just a piano teacher, she is someone the girls trust and thought of as a friend. She tried her legs and feet at Cross Country this year. She did AWESOME...I know running isn't really her thing and wants to do volleyball in 7th grade, but it was still great to see her active in something. On Tuesdays and Thursdays she visits the ROC (Rolf Olsen Center) here in town where kids can go to after school to hang out, play wii, time for homework, Tae Kwon Do, projects, etc. It's been a good thing for her.

I like having chats with the girls...in between the texting, facebooking, wii, visiting friends and having friends over and the every other week visits with their dad. Both have cell phones, which is not uncommon these days, so very easy to stay in touch while they are away. We have such a good time.

We have had a couple of new additions to the family since last blog...Donnie is the special person in my life. We met in the oddest of ways, both from different values, desires, religions, etc....but somehow the connection has worked. He is a landscaper and works with his dad in the family business...Lakedale Landscaping and Nursery. He has hopes of owning it one day. The kids truly have a good relationship with him. There isn't the constant fighting that sometimes can go on in a "step" parent relationship...he practically is a kid himself. I believe he was a godsend at the exact moment in my life when I needed someone to care for me. I believe I was at the right place and time for him as well...he was in a much needed lifestyle change. It proves that two opposites make a positive. Things are headed in a good direction...the kids are always asking when we are getting married...they practically beg us to. Donnie also likes to play darts and is on a league, he has a pontoon that we got use out of this last summer, and lately has been ice fishing. He got a new portable for Christmas.

The other addition is our Maltese dog, Avril. Oh does she bring some frustrations, but mostly joy. I love snuggling with her and love love LOVE it when she cocks her head at you when being talked to. She has potty training issues...and you would think at 1.5 years old she would have that mastered...but apparently not. Spoiled is what she is. Girls love her too.

Fatty and Shrimpy the cats are still lingering around here. Fat as ever. Eat more than I can keep up with and sleep all the time. I love their soft purr and rubs against the legs.

I still am doing daycare. Love it most days, others I wonder if I can just put my IPOD on and ignore the fighting. Wow...these cold days have left us copped inside. I am a whimp, even though some kids can tolerate the cold, I just plain can't. I'm happy where I am in life. Content to have my happy little family. December 28th I was able to witness another child be born. Melissa (the little girl that lived next door to us on Pine Street) had her 3rd. It is such an amazing experience to witness the birth of a child. I took some awesome pictures that I think will be treasured always.

These next 6 months will prove to be hectic and a real test of my patience and stress. We will be moving when school is out this summer. Not sure where...more than likely building. A couple of houses have become an option, but homeowners are asking too much in this market. If ya wanna sell, ya gotta drop the price.

This weekend I will be traveling to deerwood with some of my family members to a scrapbook retreat. It is nice to see some of my dads relatives. Since dad has died, we barely ever see anyone from that side. Thank goodness for facebook. I have most of my things packed. My ride, aka my sister, is picking me up around 6 tomorrow night. Looking forward to a weekend to get some stuff done.

Stay tuned for more to come...I'll let you know how the weekend goes.

A Star Spangled Weekend!

Well - here we are. It's Tuesday and I feel like it should be Friday already. I think having that extra day off kinda thru me for a loop. Oh well...I guess it will be here fast enough.

We had an AWESOME weekend camping. We headed up to Malmo to Pete's Retreat..our favorite camping destination...on Thursday. We had a great time camping with all our friends. We did alot of swimming and of course eating...for some of us, we drank a little too. We watched a parade on Friday in Glen...what a little hick parade. Seriously, these people put a car in the parade and call it a "float" that would say...Happy 4th from the Johnsons or Olsons or who ever. Crazy...and there were a ton of people there. My sister with her nutso ideas decided we would have all the kids tye dye a red-white-blue t-shirt. It really was fun doing it...but when we went to wash them - they all turned pinkish/purple. We laughed about. Saturday was filled with more swimming and then we had a big "grease" festival at the pavillion. We fried all kinds of stuff: cheese curds, chicken o rings, onion rings, fish and hot wings. We ate plenty of salads and washed it all down with some medicine the Dr. prescribed. Sunday was a relatively quiet day as we packed up to head it home from the long weekend. Kelsie stayed an extra day with Mike and Jen and Kas came home with me.

Although we didn't see any fireworks, we still had an awesome weekend! I can only suggest one thing...keep your sun glasses on!!