Our Favorite Things

We Olsons love many things.

We love the Green Bay Packers. Duh.

 

We (well, you know who that means) love Lightening McQueen. Double Duh.

We love cupcakes. Yummity-yummity-yum-yum-duh!

Yes, there's many, many things we love.

 

Like nearly identical copies of the same picture. 

  

 Like looking everywhere but at the camera.

  

Like cuddling with each other. 

Yes, Papa and I especially love our wonderful kids.

Wahhhhhhhhhhhhhh. (That's code for We Ate Horrendous, Horrendous amounts of food.)

YUUUMMM!

 What a terrific Thanksgiving we Olson's had! Early to rise (but later than normal); I made the rolls and fed the boys breakfast while Papa prepped the turkey for the roaster and got 'er started. Then he magnanimously offered told me he'd make everything else. Since I made the pie yesterday, I said I'd make the green bean casserole--one of my favorites--and, okay, he could make the rest. :) So before 10:15 a.m. he'd made the mashed potatoes, the stuffing, the glazed sweet potatoes; prepped the corn and the gravy to make later; set the table; and washed all the dishes. I KNOW--he's amazing!

Then, after I got the boys and myself dressed between reading stories and watching some of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (isn't that a tradition?), we all piled into the car and drove to Good Sam, where Papa led the residents in a short Thanksgiving Day service. It was terrific. Everyone was very kind, and the boys behaved wonderfully. We were glad to see some shut-ins from our church and talk to other residents, too. We enjoyed it so much, we hope to do this every year if it works out.

Then we headed home to EAT. And eat we did! Everything miraculously turned out--there's always some snafus that make us think something isn't going to taste right--and all of us, even the little guys, spent the first ten minutes after the prayer stuffing our faces and not saying anything. Which, if you know us at all, almost never happens. So the roughly four hours of prep paid off in the roughly ten to fifteen minutes of eating. The return doesn't seem great, but with enough leftovers to last us a week (and mighty good leftovers, too!), we'll take it. Especially since Mama did so little work. :)

P: Did someone say "TURKEY"?! S: Gimme some milk.

Ready to dig in!

The Menu:

Roast Turkey
Stuffing
Mashed Potatoes
Glazed Sweet Potatoes
Lydia's Schnitzel Beans
Buttered Corn
Cranberry Relish (from the can, per Papa's favs)
Beth's Best Buns
Milk
Pumpkin Pie (not pictured)

Papa, a.k.a. The Chef, spooning up. No, that's not his plate.

 

Then I cleaned up most of the remnants while Papa took the boys downstairs to start watching the DVR'd Packer/Lions game. The little guys went down for naps after a bit, and so did Mama, while Papa spent an enjoyable few hours watching the Pack beat on the hapless helpless hopeless downtrodden Lions. (He then spent the rest of the day telling me how great of a game it was. It really made his Thanksgiving!) Then we drove over the the Smidt Family Thanksgiving and saw and visited with lots of lovely people while we ate dessert. They invited us last year, so this is becoming somewhat of a tradition, too--what a blessing!

It reached almost sixty degrees, which has to be near a record. At any rate, it was gorgeous out, so we all played at a nearby park before we headed home and started getting out the Christmas decorations. I've put my Christmas dishes in the hutch--one of my favorite seasonal activities is to switch out dishes and flowers; nerdy and old-school, but I can't help myself--and after some shopping yesterday, we rearranged the living room furniture (hey--I helped push the couch a few inches--once), which always precludes the annual Christmas Tree Decorating Extravaganza. I love this time of year!

We're so thankful to God for all of His gifts. And, as S said on Thursday, "Happy Thanks" to you all.

Cheesehead Trifecta

It's been a big sports weekend in the Olson household. And we can give thanks for P and S having colds yesterday and today, giving us Papa an excuse to spend many hours watching some great moments in baseball and football lore. On top of wins with all the WI teams shown above, S started saying "Brewer." And before P went to bed tonight, he turned to Papa and said, "The Packers play at Lambeau Field." (This was their Packer history lesson for the day." And then he said, "Thanks for letting me watch the Super Bowl with you today!" Okay, so it wasn't the Super Bowl. But Papa's feeling pretty good right about now. Which is why I'm posting about this and not him.

Though I have to admit, even I'm pretty excited about all this winning-ness. Now if only the Cards can pull out a win!

The Day (Papa has been waiting for)

Yep. And YOU thought he was psyched to see Aaron Rodgers! Now you know the truth.

Super Bowl XLV DVD

One day a man goes to the Chicago Bears ticket office and inquires about purchasing the Super Bowl XLV Commemorative DVD. The ticket teller replies that there isn't any Commemorative DVD for sale because the Bears did not make it to Super Bowl XLV.

The following day the same man goes to the Chicago Bears ticket office and inquires about purchasing the Super Bowl XLV Commemorative DVD. The ticket teller politely replies to the man that there isn't any Super Bowl Commemorative DVD for sale because the Chicago Bears did not make it to Super Bowl XLV.

This goes on for an entire week. The same man goes to the Bears ticket office inquiring about Super Bowl XLV Commemorative DVDs and the same teller says that none are for sale because the Bears did not make it to Super Bowl XLV.

Another week of this goes by and the same man is still asking the same ticket teller about the Super Bowl XLV Commemorative DVD.

Finally the ticket teller in a loud voice says, "I'VE TOLD YOU FOR THE LAST TWO WEEKS THERE ARE NOT ANY SUPER BOWL XLV COMMEMORATIVE DVDS AVAILABLE BECAUSE THE CHICAGO BEARS DID NOT MAKE IT TO SUPER BOWL XLV."

The man replied, "I know. I drive all the way down from Green Bay just to hear you say that!"

State of the Franchise

Just in case you are wondering...

Top Three Items Worth Nothing 99% of the Time--But Worth an Ounce of Gold (in March 4, 2011 $) When You Need Them (In No Particular Order)

3. Earring Backs. I lose a couple of worthless earrings (that always include only one of a pair) within one week at least once a year, and then lose no more earrings, even if I'm trying, for the rest of the year. I keep the backs of the single earrings so I'm prepared--HA!--for those inevitable moments when, like Superman swooping in to catch Lois Lane, I can save the day (or at least a decent pair of earrings) with a spare back. But not tonight. Not when I'm 600 miles from home with only one pair of earrings to my name (hey! I packed light! YES, it CAN happen!)... and maybe not even that, if I can't scrounge up another priceless back somewhere.

2. Socks. Thanks to all those cannibalistic laundry machines, the world boasts countless single socks (now that's a church sign I'd like to see: "Lonely? Feeling Depressed? Come Join our Sock Divorce Support Group (Cotton Only, Please)") that could instead be headlining on The Morning Show as medal-laden heroes of Chris Dubois's toes.

1. Pens. When I cleaned out my purse last week, I counted no fewer than 17 pens. Which is super helpful when I need to write down doctor's appointments, friends' baby due dates, grocery lists, best-seller inspirations, and other completely, utterly vital information that cross my path at pivotal moments when I've left my purse at home in favor of a diaper bag. It would've been nice knowing ya, Mr. Pulitzer Prize.

In most circumstances, this is known as a choke.

We're still here! Half of a Weekend Rewind (plus Monday).

To all our loyal readers: we survived Green Bay's spectacular Super Bowl victory on Sunday! (I know, you all thought J keeled over from overwhelming joy and took the rest of us with him.) We drove over to Lakefield and had a great--if sometimes tension-filled--time with the Weiss family. P loved playing with the four Weiss kids, and us adults caught up (okay, Angelika and I caught up with news), kept Steve and J from losing hope, criticized Christina's national anthem, stuffed ourselves on brats, cheese sticks, eggrolls (oh. my. goodness.), and assorted desserts, and passed S around while we cheered on the Pack. J will post his take on this later; suffice it to say he was T-H-R-I-L-L-E-D the Lombardi trophy (as EVERYONE has been saying) is "back home" in Green Bay! Luckily he had an adrenaline high after that because our drive nearly doubled in length on the way home (blowing snow across the highways. Shocker in MN in February.). We got home after midnight, tucked the boys in, and...

Real life returned on Monday. We were up early so S and I could get to his nine-month appointment in Luverne. S looks great and did terrific! He weighed in at 20.4 pounds (he can now sit in a forward-facing car seat, his doc said--I was surprised), he's met all the milestones, he was good-natured... except for when he got spooked on the scale with the nurse. As a result, the doctor looked at his height measurement and said, "Do you think the nurse measured him accurately? Because I'd put him in the 90th percentile for length--he's tall." The chart showed him around the 50th percentile--I haven't even looked yet at what the actual length was. Anyway, he did terrific. AND he didn't get any immunizations on this visit--which Mommy really appreciated (that's a killer to watch babies getting shots!).

I got home in time for J to turn over P (he was watching Bob the Builder while Daddy got caught up on emails and the like) and head out to the Winkle and other meetings. He came home for supper and left again for more meetings--believe it or not, he did NOT spend the day watching highlights. :) I caught up on cleaning, laundry, making some baby food to freeze, and other chores--AND P and I did his first reading lesson from The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading ! He learned the short vowel sound of A (think "apple")--pretty neat. The boys conked out early--a miracle! My lovely sister kept me company while I washed a mountain of dishes, and then I promptly fell asleep at 9:45. A good day!

I didn't take any pics during our Super Bowl party on Sunday, but I dug up the following of P when he was about three months old watching his first Packer game. Back then we had never even seen Rogers start as QB in a Packer game. Needless to say, we are SO happy for him now that he's got a honkin' ring to wear.

Hope you all had a great weekend (and enjoyed watching the Pack win as much as--okay, a tenth as much as--we did)!

Icing on the Cheesehead

I am about to go to bed now to dream the dream of all dreams (when I am not dreaming about my wife Emily, of course!) ~ THE PACKERS WINNING SUPERBOWL XLV!

I have spent too much time reading and watching videos. There are some really good ones out there! Like this one featuring the author of the great biography of Vince Lombardi.

We've already posted one video about Cheeseheads below. Tonight I listened to a rap song by Lil-Wayne called "Green & Yellow" (WARNING FOUL LANGUAGE AND BURSTING CANS OF CHEESE WHIZ).

After watching and reading all this stuff, I don't just want to dream about the Lambeau Leap, I want to see the Packers defeat the Steelers to win their 13th World Championship.

Oh, and I almost forgot. The Packers have been and always will be America's Team. (Sorry, Cowboys fans, but the Pack will win this on your home turf. Which can only be outdone by the Packers hoisting the NFC Championship Trophy in Chicago...you know, the one named after George Papa Bear Halas.) Talk about icing on the Cheesehead!

Good night all; may your dreams be as sweet as icing on a Cheesehead!
Oh, and one more thing...be sure to click on all the links. They are worth your time!

Once In a Lifetime

Did you know that one-year lectionary folks are enjoying rare readings in these late Epiphany Sundays, due to this year's late-falling Easter? Thanks to Pr. Weedon for pointing out that these 5th Sunday after Epiphany readings won't come around again for another 27 years. Good thing they happened now, or Paul wouldn't have gotten so hooked on Jonah and the big fish. We've been reading it every night from his My First Bible.

And, being good Lutherans, we follow up Jonah's dark experience with the gospel reading from last Sunday of Jesus calming the storm. It's a good thing we get to hear the Good News every Sunday and not just once every three decades. That'd be downright depressing (to grossly understate it)!

Way to pull out a big save, Jesus!

Now about tomorrow: here's to hoping (and, okay, selfishly praying) that the Pack wins and makes it back to the Super Bowl ("Not the Toilet Bowl," says P, who's been well-trained in football as in Bible literacy) again during our short walks here below. But, hey, if they don't? Even Jonah got out of the belly of the fish eventually. There's always hope! :)



I'd post Lil Wayne's "Green N Yellow" remix to get you all hyped up, but it's not family-friendly, says Papa. Oh, wait. He just linked it in another post.