The Olsen Family Journal

Happy 1st Birthday Samuel!

kristen — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 01:00:11 +0000

One year ago we welcomed our sweet son Samuel into the world. We enjoyed a great day yesterday of celebrating his birth with friends and family. There is more to come from our trip to New York earlier this week and the party yesterday, but enjoy the video below of him eating his birthday cake.

Samuel’s Summer Splash RSVP

kristen — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 14:33:49 +0000

Last day to RSVP for Samuel’s Summer Splash! Please RSVP at splash.theolsenfam.com so we have enough food and know what kind of food you like!

Samuel 11 Months

kristen — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 01:00:17 +0000

Samuel is now 11 Months old and only one month away from having been on this earth for one full year. It has been a very busy month with several travels to visit family, lots of events, and fun visits by friends. I wanted each event to be a separate post, but things have been busy, so they are all on here

Samuel’s personality continues to emerge and he is loving to babble constantly. He still hasn’t decided he wants to stand on his own or walk, since he is content crawling and leaning against furniture. This is one of my favorite pictures from this month, since he looks like a little man:

He is a hungry little boy and loves waffles and cheese, although he continues to love bananas and enjoys blueberries. He also loves to eat paper, so we only let him play with it while supervised:

There are many more pictures in the Samuel 11 Months Album.

San Diego Visit

Samuel had a lot of firsts this month, starting with his first time being around a dog. Samuel and Baron really enjoyed playing with each other, although maybe a little too much. Baron is Joe’s parent’s dog and there is a great picture that Joe took of the “guys”:

Samuel also got to meet his Great-Great Grandmother:

And his Uncle Craig:

And family friends:

We had a really fun visit and there are more pictures in the San Diego Visit Album.

Brenda’s Visit

Samuel also went to Pismo Beach for the first time when Brenda came down to visit. He and Brenda really enjoyed the company of each other:

Brenda and I have been friends for a really long time and it was fun for the three of us to hang out:

Brenda brought an early birthday gift to Samuel, and he really really enjoyed the bag that Brenda put the gift in (he’s also wearing the shirt she got him from Honduras):

My parents were also down for their anniversary and dropped in to say hi:

There are more pictures in the Brenda’s Visit June 2010 Album.

Samuel & Friends

Samuel also had the opportunity to play over at his Godparents Josh & Sandra’s house and they taught him how to play the piano:

He is quite the natural:

They also let him play with wood blocks and he thought they were rather tasty:

There are more pictures in the Samuel & Friends 11 Months Album

Folsom Visit

Samuel also had his first time in the pool when we went up to visit my family in Folsom. We went up because we needed to get a “new” car since our car was totaled (it was just me in the car, wasn’t my fault and everything is fine). Samuel wasn’t too sure about the pool because it wasn’t as warm as he is used to with his bath, although he certainly is the cutest little shark ever:

He also played for the first time in a tent. The tent had a tube for him to crawl through and he had a lot of fun:

While Samuel was in the pool, we also had a BBQ with my extended family:

The day before Joe and I also had a little “date” when my mom watched Samuel while we hung out at the mall and shopped. It was the first time we have been out without Samuel that wasn’t a wedding, since our anniversary last year when Samuel was 2 weeks old. It was strange not having him there, but we felt like teenagers again – in a good way.

The next day was Father’s Day, so I got to give my dad a card and had some special gifts for Joe’s first Father’s Day. The first gift was a signed copy of Geek Dad: Awesomely Geeky Projects and Activities for Dads and Kids to Share, and the second gift was an engraved silver ring that said Samuel in Hebrew. Later that day, my mom watched Samuel again so that my dad and us could go see Toy Story 3. I wish my Mom was there so that I wasn’t the only one balling my eyes out. We left that day in what was formerly my Dad’s car, a really nice Toyota Camry – in Silver! Yeah for grandparents!
There are more pictures in the Folsom Visit June 2010 Album.

PHEW. That was long, thanks for reading!

Weekly Links

admin — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 07:00:00 +0000

Here are some links we found interesting this week:

YouTube – RSA Animate – Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us – Very very very interesting take on what motivates people to work. -KO
Kickstarter – Interesting site for fundraising. -KO

Weekly Links

admin — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 07:00:00 +0000

Here are some links we found interesting this week:

How To: Ping Pong Ball Lights – Someday we might make a chandelier out of this…

Samuel 10 Months

kristen — Wed, 26 May 2010 01:00:42 +0000

Samuel is now 10 Months old and becoming more like a real person every day. At his pediatrician appointment we found out that he is essentially a tall string bean. He is around the 90th percentile for height and 20th percentile for weight. His personality is really coming out more and more. Here are some of the highlights of the photos:

Smiling with his Tongue

Making Silly Faces with his Tongue

Being Serious

Snot Bubbles

Some other milestones were that he stood on his own once, and is probably capable of walking as soon as he shows interest. He has also become quite adept at feeding himself small chunks of food and prefers that to any other method of eating.

This month was also my first Mother’s Day and Samuel gave me the wonderful gift of falling asleep in my arms – which he hasn’t done since he was very little.

Take a look at more photos in the Samuel 10 Months Album, Samuel & Friends 10 Months Album, and Mother’s Day 2010 Album.

Felt Food Patterns & Tutorials Links (Most are FREE)

kristen — Sun, 23 May 2010 17:07:34 +0000

Some friends of mine have been curious where I have been finding felt food patterns, tutorials, and inspiration. Here are all of the various links that I have collected, enjoy!

FREE Patterns/Tutorials

Fruit

Veggies

Breakfast

Lunch

Dinner

Deserts

Patterns/Tutorials for Purchase

Inspiration

Growing Food

kristen — Fri, 21 May 2010 04:25:48 +0000

I have really been enjoying the opportunity to grow food lately, in both the edible and felt varieties.

Edible Food

We’ve had this raised garden bed in our backyard since we re-did the backyard over a year ago, and just last month I finally had some time to plant in it. There are six different kinds of Bell Peppers, Banana Peppers, Zucchini, Green Onions, Chives, Mint, and three different kinds of Basil.

The Zucchini just started to flower and the Bell Peppers aren’t far behind.

In a large pot near by are three different kinds of Tomato plants in varying sizes and a Tomatillo plant.

All of the plants in the container have flowers and two of them have a bunch of babies. It’s fun to watch the babies grow!

There are also some Strawberries in the yard that are having fruit, but the slugs are enjoying them.

Just about all of the flowers have started to bloom in the yard. There are a bunch of pictures in the Backyard Spring 2010 Album, but this one was my favorite:

Felt Food (Play Food)

My latest hobby has been making play food out of Felt. Here is a basket of what I have created so far.

From left to right there is a sliced Kiwi, Avocado, Lemon, Orange slices, sliced Grapefruit, and a peel-able Banana.
Here is the Banana being peeled, the top stems each have Velcro on them:

Here is a better picture of the Orange slices (I will be making the peel soon):

My favorite food item I have made was a 1st Birthday Cake for Emily’s Birthday, because it is super girly with Pink and Lavender frosting, candle and a Purple Flower in the middle. It is fun to make girly things sometimes. Here is a picture of Emily holding it:

There are more close-up photos in the Felt Food Album. Many people ask me why I have started to make Felt Food, and the main reason for me is that I remember how much fun it was as a kid to pretend with fake food. I think when Samuel is old enough he might enjoy it as well, but in the meantime it is a fun thing to make and is something that works well with my skill set – I only know how to sew by hand.

Weekly Links

admin — Fri, 14 May 2010 07:00:00 +0000

Here are some links we found interesting this week:

Star Wars Starring You – Powered by JibJab – The Olsen Fam starring in The Empire Strikes Back.

Save the Date – Samuel’s 1st Birthday Party

kristen — Tue, 11 May 2010 19:19:16 +0000

We realize that Samuel’s 1st Birthday is still a ways off, but because his birthday is in the summer we wanted to make sure that everyone saves the date of Saturday July 24th at Noon. Below is the front of the invitation for Samuel’s Summer Splash and the full invitation and details will follow as the date gets closer. We hope you can make it!