"My Crazy Kids"

 I decided that I needed something from the fridge, when I was almost there, I decided to call Abigail to see if she would get it for me and bring it to me in the bedroom – just on a whim. She bounced up the stairs and did what I asked with a smile and of course more bouncing. A quiet – cold weekend By Allan Olson With only three days left of the month one can only hope that the cold weather that hit us for the last week of the month will be left behind when March brings us longer days and hopefully warmer weather. The weekend plans were largely nothing, we did some cleaning again – a never ending battle in our house on Saturday morning and some laundry another job that is never done with a busy crazy young family like ours. That afternoon – we didn’t do much, some baking was in the plans but we never got that motivated. I played a game with the kids hiding their stuffed animals around the upstairs. It started out as a joke with Abigail as I had found one of...

These two girls enjoyed two days playing together – it was Abigail’s first time having a friend that’s not related spending the weekend with her. Trivia Crac k ed By Allan Olson At first glance of this strange name for my weekly column – a space I have reserved to write about my ramblings of family life and activity those familiar with this space might wonder what this could possibly have to do with my kids – give me a minute and I will get there – but first the long weekend. It was a long weekend – four days of no school for kids, I was smart and abandoned everyone at home Friday and went to work, whew – only the weekend to deal with them. Mom had them put to the task all day cleaning it was high time they straightened their bedrooms and other areas they trash so quickly. She was also busy tackling other areas that needed some TLC – including our guest room, mess room, office room, whatever name we choose for it when we are addressing it at the moment. That ...

Birthday Celebration By Allan Olson We celebrated our family’s first birthday of 2015 on Saturday, February 7, when our oldest son, Nikolai, turned a whole 12 years old. The evening prior, my cousin and his family decided to make a short notice appearance. After a round of Yahtzee and a few rounds of beverages, I called it a night – apparently several hours before the rest of the adults – but that’s not really unusual for me. The next morning I fried up bacon and sausage, my wife made eggs of choice for the guests, and we visited for a couple hours more before they left to continue their weekend plans and I headed off to work. That evening my wife made pizza for guests who showed up for the birthday party – several less than originally expected, due to other plans. After everyone was fed, my wife and her mom took the birthday boy, one cousin and a friend to a movie while I stayed home with the other three kids. Personally, I think I got the better end of the deal, since I did...

Farewell January By Allan Olson With the departure of January over the weekend, we are now one month closer to warmer weather. Of course, that also means we are one month closer to school being out for the summer, and the kids eating us out of house and home for three months, demanding to be fed 16 times a day. Like most Minnesotans, I am thankful to see January pass. It has been an interesting month this year. I started it out by burying my van in the snow and ended it with my truck biting the dust. It has been threatening to give up the ghost for several months, but each time I used it, I was always able to somehow reach my destination and then get back home. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case last Thursday, when I made it to one destination but couldn’t make the next; it just refused to go any further. RIP. Other things happened in January that made the month a little more stressful than usual, including my daughter’s broken retainer. Now, however, I’m looking to forward...