"My Crazy Kids"

Christmas is best spent with family --Published 12.19.10 Cass Lake Times By Allan Olson “Is Christmas over?” Abigail asked as we were leaving our latest Christmas party on Sunday evening, getting ready to venture home. “Yes, Christmas is over,” I said. That answer seemed to satisfy her. Why did she ask? Perhaps she, too, was ready to sleep in her own bed at home. Of course, another greater reason might’ve been that she has new toys in the van and new toys at home which she has hardly got to even look at. We started our Christmas fun on Wednesday evening when we let the kids open their gifts. The stockings were first, and as Marcus dumped his out, he discovered the yellow Nerf bullets. “I got bullets!” he exclaimed. Then logic quickly settled in. “Why do I got bullets? I don’t have a gun.” We didn’t say anything, just let him unwrap the remainder of his presents. Inside one of the packages was a brand new Nerf gun, ready to use. He was excited, and wanted to use it im...

It’s Christmas Today Published 12.22.CLT By Allan Olson             On Monday, I asked the kids if they knew what week it was. I got the usual answers from the younger ones.              “I don’t know,” Marcus said; and a shoulder shrug from Abigail.              “It’s Christmas week,” I said, trying to get excited for the holidays.              “It’s Christmas!” Marcus said with excitement in his voice. “I gotta tell mommy it’s Christmas!” he said, running down the hall. Many times over the last weeks he has asked if it’s Christmas today.             This year is the first in at least three years that we’ve put any effort into decorating our house. We dragged the tree out of storage (all three feet of...

A Safe Arrival Published 12.15.10 Cass Lake Times By Allan Olson             It’s been over two months since that fateful journey which officially ended your time of service. The trip started out rough, with a near deer-van collision shortly out of town. If that was the worst of the trip, you would still be in our home, our lives and working hard several days a week keeping our clothing clean.             As it was, halfway to our destination for a tune-up on this well-worked, loyal and dedicated pair, our van and a deer decided to intersect paths in a very up-close and personal way, but not a very kind one. As for the deer, it didn’t fare too well. The van, while injured, was able to continue on its journey.             A short ways down the road, the brakes were once again firmly applied when a large Canada Goose was slow ...

Best of Friends, Enemies and Friends again. Published 12.8.10 Cass Lake Times By Allan Olson Let me introduce you to someone. His name is Michael. He is my one of my nephews. This young man is a mere eight years young. He is often my oldest son Nikolai’s best friend, and has been since they were both very little. There is only four months separating them in age, with the latter being the eldest of the two. The following two paragraphs are written from the perspective of my son. This person, “Michael,” is first and foremost my comrade, chum, playmate and friend, but I will have to admit that he is also my arch-rival, nemesis, and enemy . . . and, well, he's also my cousin. Let me explain why he is on both lists. He is on my “like” list because it is nice to have someone your age that understands what you’re talking about, and all the troubles and turmoils we go through to make ourselves understood. I don't have to go through all that with him. We understand e...

Snow Is Here to Stay 12-1-10 Cass Lake Times By Allan Olson             As we dig out of our third winter storm in a week’s time, it is evident that the snow is here to stay – and my kids are loving it.             With the first significant snowfall of the season happening last week, the kids and I took advantage of the fresh powder and got geared up for the great outdoors. This is no easy feat to accomplish with four kids. It takes a great amount of teamwork between mom, myself and the kids.             This year’s first foray into the winter gear wasn’t nearly as complicated as last year (it was even worse the previous year). Take a step back in time and the dreadful thoughts of fighting to get a kid’s thumb in the right spot, tugging on their snowpants, and their little feet into the awkward boots ... eventually we g...

Thankful For Family By Allan Olson published 11-24-10 Cass Lake Times Eat until I can’t eat anymore is the plan for me this Thursday. This is likely the case for many others as well. The food that will be prepared is just one of many things to be thankful for this week. I can honestly say I’m thankful for a lot of things in my life. I’m especially thankful for my beautiful little family. Do I always feel overwhelmed with joy while dealing with the everyday tasks of working and raising four children? I would be lying if I said yes. My children are great kids. They are great at making me smile with their questions and antics. However, they are also great at driving me up a wall. Asking them to help clean a room sometimes and it’s like you put them in a torture chamber by daring to ask for a little help cleaning up the mess they made. Other times they are willing, eager partners ready to help with whatever task you need them to. Of course, there are also those times when ...

Going on a hunting walk By Allan Olson 11.17.10 CLT It seems that all I’ve done this year during hunting season is walk. I walk to the deer stand, walk to track deer when another hunter’s aim hasn’t been true ... by the end of the day I’m tired from all the walking. Last weekend I came in from walking and I asked my oldest daughter Abigail if she wanted to go on a “Hunting Walk,” with me. Of course the answer was “yes” – a very enthusiastic “yes.” “I’m going hunting with daddy,” she said. So I started getting her stuff together. I found her boots, gloves, snowpants and hat. Everything needed to keep her little body warm. “This is my rainbow hat,” she said after I put her winter hat on her little head. I then proceeded to cover her outdoor clothes with a three-sizes-too-big orange jacket and covered her rainbow hat with an orange hat. On the way down the deck ramp of my parent’s house, she grabbed an empty five quart ice cream pail to bring with her. As we walked acros...

Hunting with a Seven-Year-Old By Allan Olson The annual deer hunting holiday is here, and many hunters are enjoying the warm weather and hopefully, bagging a deer or two. The weather was perfect – at least for a nap. I certainly enjoyed one or two while I was sunbathing in the unusually warm November sun. The forecast for this week is a little cooler, so I knew that I better take my oldest boy out to the stand while it was still warm. I figured he could handle being in a stand for three hours. Perhaps that might have been a stretch. After lunch on Sunday, I asked him if he wanted to go out hunting with me. “Yes,” Nikolai said eagerly. Okay, then I proceeded to round up the clothes that he would need. I gathered together extra socks, boots, snowsuit, orange hat and jacket, and a bucket to sit on. Then we headed down the road to a deer stand. “We’re walking there?” he asked. “Yes,” I said, “it’s less than a mile down the road.” As we head to the stand, he’s walking all over the ...

I Wanna’ Help Published 11-3-10 CLT By Allan Olson It’s great to have help on projects around the house. Whether it’s laundry, baking, cleaning or just wrangling four active children, it’s always nice to have help. Except when it’s not, because sometimes, it isn’t. The kind of help I’m referring to is from the hands of a little child. Hearing those words from the little voice of a young child for the first time will make most parents smile and think how cute it is that they want to help. Well, I’ve had “help” for the last seven years, and it’s not always very helpful. A couple weekends ago, I made cinnamon rolls. As the bread was raising, the kids went down for a nap. But all were concerned that they wouldn’t be able to help. “I want to make rolls,” Marcus said in sobs as he was heading to bed. “Don’t worry,” I said, “I’ll make sure you get to help.” I had 15 loaves to roll out, and it wasn’t going to be a quick task with eight extra hands helping. The loaves rose before the...

Video-Game Challenged 10-27-10 CLT By Allan Olson Wii-challenged I am. I admit it. Video games and I are not a good mix. Many kids who have never played video games could probably beat me, or close to it, the first time they played. Nearly a year ago, I played the Wii for the first time at my nephew’s birthday party. I know, what’s my rush, it’s only been out for a few years. The brief time I played it, I had so much fun, and it was even better watching the kids do it, since they made it look easy. So my wife and I bought one, along with some games and extra remotes. Man, does that add up quick! We figured it would it be fun for us and the kids, especially during the winter. Like with any new toy, we all enjoyed playing it frequently for the first few months. And now, nearly a year later, it has turned into a couple times a week, largely used for Netflix instead. This past weekend, the kids wanted to play, so we set it up and all of us played against each other in a variet...

Deer hunting a favorite amongst sportsmen Published 10.20.10 CLT Hunting Guide By Allan Olson Every deer hunting party has its own quirks and adventures along with tall tales, embellished stories all with some truth weaved in. My hunting party is no different. I’m afraid that if I took the time to write all our tales and then embellish them some more and then edit them to reflect me more “accurately” it would take too much time and room. I could be considered by some a privileged hunter, all the property I hunt on is private land consisting of over 300 acres owned by dad the seasoned most veteran hunter of our group. The land is intermixed with woods and fields along with some adjacent state land that we occasionally trek through. To say that it is free of faults and the acreage is always accessible is not the case. During a review of our permanent stands earlier this month we discovered that one of the favorite stands (Old Faithful as its nicknamed) is going to require a good...

It Happened Last Night Published 10.20.10 CLT By Allan Olson It’s funny how kids have no concept of time, yet keep asking about the time and how long is it to do this or that. With my younger kids, it’s often about the fact that it happened last night. “I went to grandma and grandpa’s last night,” my daughter Abigail has informed more than once. Or another line is, “I did it last night,” or “Iast night it did.” I’ve often wondered how I can get inside her little brain and find out what happened last night in her sleep. “Uncle Brian took me to Walmart last night,” she’s said. No, he didn’t, I reply. “Uh- huh, last night he did,” she said. Sometimes it’s futile to argue with a four-year-old, so I just shake my head and walk away. My wife asked our youngest daughter recently to “Come here.” She replied, “Just a minute.” Well, I dare say, we’ve both told her that a time or two, but does she really know what a minute is? And do we tell her to move her minute faster, or recognize ...

Adventures in Bath Land: Published 10.13.10 CLT By Allan Olson Giving baths at my house is always an adventure, primarily because you never know how it’s going to go. As a young child, I remember having a tub full of toys in the bathtub while taking a bath, so when we had our first child I was adamant about him having toys as well. Over the years these toys have been tossed and replaced and tossed again. The oldest kid now thinks he’s too big for a bath, so he insists on a shower. As for the other three, it varies on the day if they get a shower or bath. Last week I threw all three in the tub. I know better than this, but I wanted to get it all done with at once. The last thing I said was, “Don’t make a mess, I’ll be right back.” “Okay, we won’t,” they all replied. “Yeah, right,” they were probably thinking as I walked out the door. Now the tub toys are virtually non-existent. They get a cup (or three) and a washcloth each. I listened to them from the hallway while...

Help them find a cure for CF published 9.29.10 CLT By Allan Olson Over the last several week’s I’ve used this column as a humorous outlet of my children’s crazy antics and what a recently passed grandmother meant to me and now I hope that our readers will see what just one of many families has experienced. My kids are full of energy, love and stamina sometimes too much for their parents but they are and hopefully continue to be given a clean bill of health at each doctor’s visit. These kids enjoy life to their fullest ability that their age and strength allow. Sadly, this is not the case for every family. Many families have lost loved ones at a young age to any number of fatal diseases. This weekend marks the ninth annual Cystic Fibrosis tournament on Break on the Lake Resort on Cass Lake. This tournament on Saturday has been held not just as another fund raiser for another disease but it’s being held to help raise money to find a cure for CF. Twelve years ago on Oct., 23...

One Long Day Published-10-6-2010 Cass Lake Times By Allan Olson Everyone has those days that they maybe shouldn’t have gotten out of bed – I think mine was Sunday. We left Bemidji at 6:45 a.m., on our way to International Falls to get some minor service work done on my washer and dryer at my brother’s store. Then the fun began. We were just past the fairgrounds when the first challenge appeared in my path as a doe and fawn decided they wanted to cross in front of me. Brakes firmly applied, I narrowly escaped any damage to the vehicle or the deer. “We almost hit a baby deer,” my daughter Abigail said, after I explained the sudden stop. Since all was okay, we continued on our journey. A short while later we arrived in Blackduck and stopped to grab something quick to eat. I come back to the van and, of course, I hear those ever-famous words every parent dreads when traveling with kids: “I gotta go potty,” Alivia said. Grudgingly, I take her into the building to take care of...

Band Aid Power Published 8-18-10 Cass Lake Times By Allan Olson Band-Aid Power ... It never ceases to amaze me how quickly a child can get over an “owie” of any proportion. With four young children I think I should have invested in companies that sell Band-Aids or diapers. I couldn’t even begin to count the number of boxes we’ve gone through in the last seven years. Nor do I want to know the amount of money that literally was thrown in the garbage after each was done being used. I’m not sure which of my kids has the biggest obsession with a Band-Aid, but it seems like they disappear as fast as we buy them. I’m certain we’ve bought every size and kind of Band-Aid on the market ... from the big assorted packs to the waterproof to the neon colors and everything in between. Every time we go to get a Band-Aid for a kid, we have to dig through the drawer to find a stray one that got out of the box. Currently we have the Band-Aids in the bathroom above the medicine cabinet wh...

Turn the Radio On. Published 9.15.10 Cass Lake Times By Allan Olson Growing up I remember I had a choice of one AM station or one FM station and that was it up until my middle teens. Today living here I can’t even count the number of stations I could possibly listen to. My truck has six pre-sets and if I can’t find something to listen to on those stations then I turn it off. My son, Nikolai wanted a radio in his room last year for bed time so we agreed and gave him an old alarm clock. Somewhere in that time he set what station he wanted to listen to. I walked in their one night and asked what are you listening to? “The news,” he said. Okay, I walked out without further thought. Well after a couple nights of hearing the “news” I stood and listened, he had somehow tuned in Minnesota Public Radio. I said “why are you listening to MPR,” he said, “because I like it.” I couldn’t think of a reason for him not to listen, so I shook my head and left. Well, after several months of t...

Wanna Be My Best Friend? Published 9.22.10 Cass Lake Times By Allan Olson Most everyone either has or wants a best friend. Someone they can share their thoughts and secrets with, or just hang out with, and have a good time and not worry about what they think. I’m not exactly sure I can determine when this started, but my youngest three children have this need to be someone’s or everyone’s best friend. I think my stubborn, angelic two-year-old is perhaps the worst. She came to me one day and said, “You wanna be my best friend?” Perplexed, I really didn’t know how to answer her. “Um, sure,” I said. Well, I hadn’t had my de-briefing on the latest happenings with the kids, and was totally not prepared to answer her question. “Daddy’s my best friend,” she told the siblings. I think I realized my mistake then. Isn’t that what we, as parents, want? We want our children to be our best friends. We want them to confide us so we can hopefully prevent them from doing something un-...