Emme's 5!!!!!

Emmersen's five! I can't believe how fast time has gone, and how quickly she has grown up. Starting kindergarten this year was a big deal. I was nervous about her starting and debated back and forth whether she should start this year or next. You hear so many people say to hold a December baby back a year but I am so thankful that we didn't. We decided that she should go in, partially because she is so incredibly tall, even though she is one of the youngest in her class she is still one of the tallest, that if we held her back a year she would tower over her classmates, but also, because I could tell academically she was so ready. The reason we waffled was because she can be slightly emotional, and at times finds it difficult to express herself without a melt down. She can also be a bit flighty at times and I wasn't sure if she had the focus yet for school. It turns out we were wrong to be worried. Emmersen hasn't had any melt downs at school, and besides the little incident on the bus the first day, hasn't gotten into any kind of trouble. Kindergarten has been so great for her! She has an amazingly understanding and gentle teacher who employs a lot of routine in her classroom. Emmersen thrives on routine. If she knows what to expect and there aren't too many major upsets to that routine she can handle life. When the balance gets tilted however, typically a melt down follows. She has so much self-confidence and isn't shy or withdrawn at school. She is quick to make new friends, and isn't worried if she has to find something to do without her usual playmates. Emmersen has the sweetest and gentlest spirit. When she has done something wrong, and she knows she has done something wrong, I don't even have to say anything, she is in tears about it before I even speak to her. She is also very quick to forgive, and shows love to everyone around her. I love watching her interact with other kids. She is never the one telling someone they can't join the game and she is quick to try and make a sad child happy or include someone who is feeling left out. She has a lot of compassion and empathy, she can be moved to tears by a movie, or when a friends feelings are hurt. God has also given her a servant's heart, when she can help she beams with satisfaction, and often will be the one to offer help before we have asked, or will pick up the job her sister has complained about doing. As Emmersen has matured this past year, and has begun to have a little more control of her emotions, I have really been able to see the beautiful spirit God has given her, she is a blessing to our family and I am so excited to watch her. She is also a ton of fun, and can quickly have everyone laughing over something silly. Many times Michael and I look at each other and shake our heads laughing over some random thing Emmersen has said or done. I am so thankful that Michael and I spent a lot of time praying over our parenting of Emmersen, her spirit is gentle, but often misguided, and of all our kids she is the one that needs the most grace from us, and we aren't always as gracious as we should be. Sometimes we can be tempted to discipline her harshly, or for her childish irresponsibility, many times she has innocently done wrong and we have disciplined her because we were angry at the outcome or her behaviour is embarrassing, or frowned upon by others, but thankfully she is so forgiving, and God is teaching me his grace through parenting her, in the moments where I feel frustrated he reminds me of his response to my sin, and I am convicted at how little I have appreciated his grace over the years. The book "Grace Based Parenting," by Tim Kimmel has made a huge impact at how I parent all my children, but especially when it comes to Emmersen (Michael is naturally more gracious then me, hence me saying "I" as he was already gifted in this area, and I am so thankful for that, because I know his graciousness has often balanced my misguided attempts to parent without it, especially for Emme). I loved the idea of parenting a strong willed child with grace instead of harshness, to stop and think/pray before we make an issue of something, the idea that we need to respond to our child and to care for their heart, rather then worry about how others think definitely impacted me in how I respond to Emmersen. She might always be my kid who pushes me out of my comfort zone, and challenges me to think outside the box, or forces me to stop and think instead of responding in autopilot mode, and I love her for it!  

This year we were a little last minute on planning Emmersen's party, her party was on Sunday and on Thursday she announced that she wanted a Tangled party. I hadn't really thought about a theme, nor planned one, and with her birthday being close to Christmas and all the holiday busyness, I just didn't think I had time. Luckily for me, this turned out to be a very easy theme. Some things I had bought fit the theme without my even realizing it (these "coincidences" were quickly recorded in my One Thousand Gifts list). I had bought neon yellow fake hair to go in the goodie bags, which I told the girls was a piece of Rapunzel's glowing hair, we bought yellow streamers and strung them throughout the house to look like Rapunzel's hair when she is defending her tower from Flynn Rider, I baked my cake in tomato sauce cans to make a tower, used gingerbread cookies for the kids to decorate as Rapunzel and Flynn Rider, and I bought a huge ball of yarn to make all of the girls Rapunzel's hair (an idea I got from a mom who made her girls super cute mermaid costumes with long hair for Halloween). It turned out to be so fun, and a perfect theme for a little girl's party. The guests loved their hair and wore it all day, and even acted out a self directed play of Rapunzel. I did learn a few things though: first, birthday parties are so much easier when planned so that Michael can be there to help, what a huge difference! Secondly, uncooked spaghetti doesn't work as a spear to keep a tower cake from falling over, it gets all soft and bendy, lucky for me the cake stayed standing anyways, and third, you can redecorate a cake to avoid making a second one for the family party :).

Not the best picture, but it somewhat shows the streamers throughout the house.

Waking up in the morning, her sister was just as excited as she was for her party.

We gave her our gift in the morning. Michael and Bella had bought it months before her party, long before she had mentioned the theme that she wanted. It was a singing Rapunzel Barbie, Michael is a bit of a sucker for little girls toys and was so excited when he came across it that he just had to buy it, regardless of cost, or the fact that musical toys tend to get a bit annoying to parents after awhile :)

The party guests and their long hair, one extra large eight dollar ball of wool did six long blond braids.

making their own pizzas for lunch, again definitely easier with two adults then one!

decorating gingerbread to look like Rapunzel and Flynn Rider

the finished cookies :) notice the beautiful long hair on all the Rapunzels!

opening gifts, everyone was excited!

and this is what happens when you try to watch football during a little girls' birthday party...

...you become the entertainment, and end up looking very beautiful...

...complete with hair accessories and earrings!

I was afraid my tower wasn't going to stay standing until morning, so I made sure I took pics at every stage!

The finished cake!

Our beautiful Birthday Girl!

Party guests minus Bella who didn't think she should have to be in the picture!

notice any changes in the landscape? Some minor alterations made it a great cake for the second party of the day, our family party!

She's ready for party number two, and changed into her new party dress, this might have been one of the favourite gifts this year, especially because it has a hooped skirt!

singing happy birthday with the family, which usually means slightly off key :)

Our attempt at getting a pic of all the cousins with the birthday girl!

A little birthday interview, the idea and questions are stolen from a wonderful and creative friend at Ladybugs 'n Lattes :)

Favourite Colour:? Purple

Favourite Food? Swedish Pancakes (for those of non-Swedish decent, crepes)

Favourite Show? Tangled

Favourite Book? Tinkerbell

Favourite Toy? Treasure Box Daddy made me

Favourite Song? Gettin' Ready for the Miracle (this one surprised me as I was expecting either Brown Chicken Brown Cow or something by Miss Taylor Swift, but this song has been played a lot lately due to Cheyanne singing it in the Christmas concert at church)

What do you want to be when you grow up? Have a baby

What are you good at? Sliding down Slides

What are you excited about? Auntie Marie having her baby and Christmas

What are your favourite memories from being four? Peeing on the floor when I sleep walked, going to Auntie Brit's for a sleepover, my first day of school, Ella's b-day, trick or treating

What is one thing you would like to say to the whole world if you had the chance? ummm, Happy New Year and my birthday is December 4th!

Mason, my sweet son!

 I have been meaning to write this post for a long time, since we went camping in the summer actually. Life got hectic and busy and it got put off, and now I have continued to put it off as I haven't known if I could actually capture my sweet little boy's personality with my words, however he's past 18months now and due for an update so I am going to try. For spending as much time as he does wearing a dress, a crown, a pink headband, and playing with barbies, he really is such a little BOY! I must say I am shocked at how much it is obviously nature that shapes little boys, cuz if it was nurture he would be far more interested in princess games and would do far less crashing and banging!

He also loves wearing my six inch heals, and can walk pretty good in them too!

Mason really is the cutest boy you will ever meet, lol, I know all moms say that about their kids, so those with boys are welcome to disagree, but he is the cutest, both in looks and personality. I know God gave me this little sweet heart to ease my fears of raising a boy, and to show me just how much fun they can be. I really had never thought about having a boy, or what they were like to raise, never planned on having one really, haha, like I had any say, so when Mason came I was a little surprised and terrified. I can see though now, that God didn't just randomly decide for me to have a boy, he chose Mason, just for us, and he gave me a little sweet heart that will be such a blessing to our family. He is teaching me how much fun little boys can be, and I am sure that in the teenage years I will be thanking God everyday for the extra dose of testosterone in the house, instead of another bought of estrogen, haha. People were always asking me if I noticed a difference between Mason and the girls. For a long time I wasn't really sure, all of the girls had such different personalities that it was hard for me to judge whether the differences I had noticed were gender based or just personality. This summer however, while camping, I really began to see the difference in Mason and the girls! He would follow his dad everywhere we went, this is also something the girls would do, however, they were in it for relationship, for spending time with dad. Mason I am sure enjoyed this too, but his main focus was to be like dad, he would copy Michael and do whatever Michael was doing. His favourite activity camping was to help with the firewood. When Michael would chop a block of wood, Mason would bring him the next chunk to chop, he even found himself a play axe and would cut his own firewood. If we weren't careful he would try and use Michael's axe too. He is so like his daddy already, always wanting to help out, quick to watch and learn. If there is a bag of garbage sitting on the floor he will grab it and start dragging it to the back door, he loves to help unload the dishwasher, and even knows where everything goes. He has the cutest expressions, and will give you the funniest little wrinkled nose grin when he's being silly. When he wants something he just comes over, pats your leg and grunts, and if you take too long to figure it out he starts hitting harder and grunting more urgently.

Helping to rearrange our campsite

Loading up the wagon for campfire

setting up the wood to be chopped

cutting firewood on his own :)

He's spent a lot of time watching daddy :) (it's empty btw)

The other difference I have noticed is that he's so rough and noisy! My girls are loud too, and they never stop talking, but Mason's noises are different. He's always doing sound effects and crashing and banging things. He finds the nosiest truck in our house and drives as fast as he can with it, then runs it into the walls, or doors, repeatedly. If the girls ran into things it was an accident and only happened once, but not him, it's like the crash is the goal of driving a truck! When he isn't crashing into doors he tries to run over his sisters and thinks it's hilarious when they run away squealing. Everything is a hammer and can be used to bang and make noise, kitchen utensils, barbies, etc. I have also seen him steal my cookie press and use it as a gun to shoot Bella with. I can't get over how little boys can turn things into guns, especially when he's surrounded by girls!

This is the noisy truck that he chases the girls with, it is so loud!!

The farm is Mason's favourite place in the world. He loves it down there, and would spend everyday with Michael if he could. When we come home from town he will yell at me and point to the barns if I head straight for our house instead of driving to the farm. The girls have always loved hanging out at the barn too, but it's different with Mason. The girls enjoyed it when we were there, but out of sight out of mind, Mason on the other hand, is always asking about the cows and making mooing noises or chicken sounds. He follows along and tries to help, and gets so upset when it's time to go home. He also loves the quad, and gets so excited when he gets to go on a ride that he squeals and dances and jumps up and down then runs to the door to find his boots and coat. It has happened more then once where he has misheard "car ride" as "quad ride" and has been very devastated when he realized he was being buckled into the car seat instead of the quad. 

The only way I could get him to smile for his photo shoot was to sit him on the quad, the picture at the top of the post was taken with him on the quad, and we only got a smile by promising him he could have a ride!

Mason has the goofiest sense of humour, and thinks it's hilarious to pretend to be a baby, or to wear a dress and have the girls push him in their stroller, he even pretends to cry for them. He is a total showoff and will do almost anything to get a laugh. Sometimes he is sweet and gentle with the girls and snuggles in for cartoons, other times he just loves to make them mad by turning off the TV and running away giggling while they yell at him. He loves to cause trouble and has even started to groan when he's done something bad because that's what I usually do when I catch him. He's just so full of mischief it's hard to keep up with at times, which has earned him the nickname turd! He's daring and will climb on everything! He's fallen off our table chairs, the table itself, the playground in the yard, and a million other things, but he still keeps climbing, and now he's starting to think about jumping off these things! He figured out how to make it to the top of our big playground set this summer, long before the girls would have done it, and just hurls himself down the slide. He doesn't care if he's head first, backwards, or right way around, he just flings himself down giggling all the way.

He is quick to get into the flour if the pantry is left open!

showing off for his sisters

showing off again ;)

In all of this Mason has truly blessed me, he's such a cutie and I love my snuggles with him. He has to be able to play with my hair when he wants, especially if he's tired, and gets quite upset when it's up if I won't take it out for him to run his hands through. He does break my heart a little too when I watch him doing his quirky little things. I know what a kick Don would have gotten out of him. Sometimes when Mason does something I actually hear Don laughing the way he always did when we told him a story about something silly the kids would do. I really miss talking with him about the kids, and especially the joy he always showed when they were around! Don really would have loved watching the way Mason loves being at the barns or the way he chases the girls with that big dump truck they got him for his birthday. I am so sad that we won't get  a picture of the two of them in their Harley gear and their biker jackets, but Mason wears them in grandpa's memory, and we will need to be satisfied with that.

Grandpa and Mason at his first birthday!

There is so much more I could say, and I know this post doesn't even come close to capturing my little son, and the joy he brings us, but hopefully it will be enough to remind me in the years to come what his little personality was like.

This is the goofy smile he gives when he gets caught doing something wrong!

His first time on the big boy swings!

more being silly!

hiking with daddy around the campground

showing off again!

our little rock star

Pray for Us!

It seems like lately I don't know how to pray or what to say to God, I feel a bit at a loss. Life keeps getting harder instead of easier. For both Michael and I yesterday was an incredibly difficult day. I am not sure if it was the fact that we had been away, had experienced a momentary break to life, and were then heading back into the reality of what we were living with, or if it is just one of those days. But both of us felt it, by Hope the heaviness weighed us down, neither of us spoke much, both deep in thought, both feeling extreme pain. It just felt so unbearable yesterday, like it was impossible to keep going. So I ask you, please hold us up in prayer right now. I know many of you are and have continued to pray for us daily, and for that I am so thankful. I know that you are standing in the gap for us when we are at a loss as how to pray and how to go on. I just ask that you continue praying for us, we seem to be struggling more now, and it just feels like this is all too hard. Thank you for your willingness to support us in this way, what a blessing to be a part of the family of God!

I have struggled lately praying and knowing what to say or how to pray, and I know the Holy Spirit can interpret the prayers of my soul but I have also just felt the need for words to cry out to God, something to say to him. In this struggle I came across a prayer book, one from the times of the Puritans, and it has brought me comfort, to pray the words of those who have gone before me, to have something to cry out to God when I just don't know what else to say. The poetic language and the passion behind each prayer has just captivated me, and I have felt these prayers speak to me as I read them, and as my heart prays them to God. So this has been my prayer of late:

Resting on God
O God, most high, most glorious, the thought of Thine infinite serenity cheers me, for I am toiling and moiling, troubled and distressed, but Thou art for ever at perfect peace. Thy designs cause thee no fear or care of unfulfilment, they stand fast as the eternal hills. They power knows no bond, They goodness no stint. Thous bringest order out of confusion, and my defeats are Thy victories: The Lord God omnipotent reigneth. I come to Thee as a sinner with cares and sorrows, to leave every concern entirely to Thee, every sin calling for Christ's precious blood; revive deep spirituality in my heart; let me live near to the great Shepherd, hear His voice, know its tones, follow its calls. Keep me from deception by causing me to abide in the truth, from harm by helping me to walk in the power of the Spirit. Give me intenser faith in the eternal verities, burning into me by experience the things I know; Let me never be ashamed of the truth of the gospel, that I may bear its reproach, vindicate it, see Jesus as its essence, know in it the power of the Spirit. Lord, help me, for I am often lukewarm and chill; unbelief mars my confidence, sin makes me forget Thee. Let the weeds that grow in my soul be cut at their roots; grant me to know that I truly live only when I live to Thee, that all else is trifling. They presence alone can make me holy, devout, strong, and happy. Abide in me, gracious God.   

I have enjoyed reading these prayers, giving them to God, and asking his blessing on them, and asking God to use these in my life. The passion for repentance and serving God, inspite of their "trouble and distress" that these Puritans demonstrate in their prayer life inspires me, and gives me hope that he can use me inspite of my grief.

If you have never used a prayer book before, two others that I have also found encouraging, and  have modern day language if you don't enjoy the poetic style of the Puritans are: The power of a praying parent book of prayers, and the power of a praying wife book of prayers. I don't believe our prayers need to be perfect or well written, but I have found that sometimes, especially when life is hard, it can be hard to know what to say to God, or what to pray for, and I have found comfort in these words of others. I have used these to supplement my time with God not as the soul communication between me and God, and I know that I have felt them become the prayers of my heart. Sometimes we just need a starting point!

Halloween

We had a fun Halloween this year. We started out with a family Halloween party at a friends place the Saturday before, then we trick or treated around my old neighbourhood on Monday night.The kids were all old enough to understand what it meant to knock on the door and get candy, and Mason couldn't get enough! By the end of the night he couldn't even carry his bag! 

 Mason went dressed as a skunk because he is such a stinker! Although Cheyanne thought we should tell everyone he was actually a honey badger because then all four of them would be animals that lived in Africa, lol, guess she thought we should have stuck with the family theme :)

 The little skunk thought that he should attack the mean lion and so he tackled her and sat on her, guess he already has those protective instincts :)

 Our four wild animals!

Mason our little stinker, the skunk (or a honey badger, although personally, I think he is far too sweet to be such a vicious animal, and he is a turd so he really suits the skunk better, lol)

 Bella the Elephant named Ella :)

 Cheyanne the crazy lion!

 Emme the Giraffe

 Trick or treating at Grandma Haak's house, we also hit up the barn before we went to town

Our scariest trick or treating house, the girls thought it was so fun trick or treating there! Although when Dexter saw the picture he scolded Bella for going to such a scary lady's place! Lol, he was so concerned for her it was cute. He kept telling her how she shouldn't have gone there because that scary lady would scare her :)

 Grandpa Olund and his infamous Halloween teeth!

Trick or treating at Grandma Olund's place. We always trick or treat around my old neighbourhood, it takes far less houses to get a lot of candy and it brings back many happy memories! We ended up with a lot of Halloween candy though, good thing too because mommy and daddy can eat as much as we want without getting caught that way, haha.

So this is my friend Tara, she is the fabulous "Super Mom" (take note of her costume) who through one amazing Halloween party, complete with apple bobbing, eating donuts off a string, a make your own cupcake table, and all kinds of fabulous homemade treats and decorations!

 This picture doesn't do it justice but she had homemade chocolates, a carrot platter in the shape of a pumpkin, bats in cookie crumb dirt, crazy Halloween candy, and much much more!

 I decided that we should go as Malibu Ken and Barbie, it took a little convincing but as soon as I got the girls on board Michael had no choice but to go along with it, lol, he just couldn't say no to his little princesses, and they thought he was awesome so that's enough of a motivation for him! He truly made one amazing Ken, it really wasn't too far of a stretch as he's always been every girls dream ;)

To get that plastic mono-tone Ken look, I just took a nice dark foundation and put it on him from his hair to his neck. It really gave him the perfect Ken hair! I got the shirt for three dollars at Value Village and we found the glasses so it was a great cheap costume!

Tara also made a photo booth, complete with goofy monster faces to get your picture taken with.

 Michael with his look-a-like :)

 The party goers! There were some amazing costumes, the homemade mermaid costumes were definitely a favourite!

 The decorate your own cupcake station. Emme and Cheyanne wanted to be a ballerina and a figure skater this year, but those costumes are too cold to trick or treat in so they wore them to Tara's and saved their nice fuzzy costumes for trick or treating.

 More of the party goers

 Our figure skater was very clear that she had to wear make up because all figure skaters do, lol.

 The farmer, the doll, and the pirate, what a combination :)